Laviai Nielsen

Laviai Nielsen (born 13 March 1996) is a British sprinter.[1] She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships, finishing in fourth place in the final.[2] Nielsen has an identical twin sister, Lina Nielsen, who is also an international athlete in the same events.[3][4]

Laviai Nielsen
Laviai Nielsen in 2017
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1996-03-13) 13 March 1996
ResidenceLondon, England
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)400 metres
ClubEnfield and Haringey Athletic Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 100 m: 11.94 (London 2016)
  • 200 m: 23.81 (Loughborough 2017)
  • 400m : 50.83 (London 2019)
  • 800 m: 2:08.88 (London 2016)
Medal record
World Championships
2017 London4×400 m relay
European Indoor Championships
2017 Belgrade4×400 m relay
2019 Glasgow4×400 m relay
European Junior Championships
2015 Eskilstuna400 m
2015 Eskilstuna4×400 m relay

Career

At 16, Nielsen was a bag carrier for British heptathlete Jessica Ennis at the 2012 London Olympic games, a pivotal experience in her development as an athlete. "I stood behind Jessica Ennis and when she came out the crowd cheering was the loudest thing I've heard in my life," she later recalled. "I thought, 'I want that'."[5]

Nielsen was initially a middle distance runner,[6] but in 2013 she and her twin sister were approached at an event and persuaded to change specialism to the 400 metres. Laviai proceeded to reduce her 400m personal best by 2 seconds within 2 months, and a further four seconds by the following season.[6]

Nielsen's breakthrough year came in 2015,[7] when she won gold in the 400 metres at the 2015 European Junior Championships in Sweden. She topped this off by running the final leg for the winning 4 x 400 metres relay team, with her sister Lina running the second leg.[8] Nielsen also lowered her personal best to 52.25s, the best time in 2015 for an under-20 athlete, and the third-fastest performance of all time for a British junior.[7] She finished the season ranked number 2 in the UK.[9] This success earned Nielsen a place on the Jaguar Land Rover Academy of Sport programme, which offers financial support and mentoring.[10]

In February 2017, she recorded a personal best of 51.90s at an indoor meet in Birmingham.[11] In the summer, she reached the final of the 400 metres at the 2017 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade, finishing fourth to miss out on a bronze medal by just 0.27 seconds.[12] On the final day of the championships, she ran the anchor leg of the 4 x 400 metre relay, winning the silver medal behind a strong Polish team.[13]

Personal life

Nielsen grew up in Leytonstone, East London.[6] As of 2017, she is taking a year out from her geography degree at King's College London.[5] Nielsen is also an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, the world's leading sport for development charity.[14]

gollark: I am in theory interested in such a thing, but could not in any way afford any 2G prize whatsoever.
gollark: Must have been a lot of rares which I missed out on... yay...
gollark: Wow. Alpine is *entirely empty*.
gollark: It says "BIZr" which sounds like "bizarre".
gollark: https://dragcave.net/lineage/8BIZrAlso, is this code likely to be worth much?

References
  1. "Laviai Nielsen". IAAF. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  2. "400m Women Final: Results" (PDF). European Athletics. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  3. "Meet the GB twins going for gold in Belgrade". BBC Sport. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  4. Debbie Black (12 August 2015). "What It's Actually Like To Train With Professional Athletes". Elle. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  5. Matt Majendie (2 March 2017). "Twins Lina and Laviai Nielsen set sights on medals at European Indoors after carrying kit at London 2012". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  6. Ben Bloom (25 February 2017). "Laviai and Lina Nielsen driven by twin dream of a medal on British debuts". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  7. "King's Sport Performance Athlete – Laviai Nielsen". kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. "Laviai Nielsen". britishathletics.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. Dev Trehan (9 February 2016). "Twin 400m runners Laviai and Lina Nielsen target Olympic Games". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  10. "Enfield sprinter Laviai Nielsen handed spot on Academy of Sport programme". Herald Scotland. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  11. "Laviai Nielsen". iaaf.org. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  12. 400m Womens final - results, European-athletics.org. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  13. "ME w Belgradzie. Żeńska sztafeta 4x400 m ze złotym medalem". Interia.pl (in Polish). 5 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  14. "Right To Play ambassadors". Right To Play. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
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