Maggie Nichols

Maggie Nichols, born on September 12, 1997, in Little Canada, MN, began her gymnastics journey in 2000. Her early career saw rapid progression, leading to her inclusion on the U.S. national team in March 2013 and numerous international and national competition successes. In 2014, she secured a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Pan American Championships in Toronto, alongside an individual bronze in the all-around. The following year, Nichols became a World team champion and an individual floor exercise bronze medalist at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain. Despite a knee injury in early 2016 which impacted her Olympic aspirations, she retired from elite gymnastics after the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

She then transitioned to collegiate gymnastics, joining the University of Oklahoma Sooners in 2016 on a full athletic scholarship. During her time with the Sooners, Nichols achieved exceptional success, becoming an eight-time NCAA Champion and the first NCAA gymnast to complete a “Gym Slam” twice, performing a perfect 10 on all four events in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. She earned multiple individual NCAA titles, including all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise championships between 2017 and 2019. Her collegiate career concluded following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where she was ranked No. 1 in the all-around and on vault, earning numerous All-American honors and the prestigious AAI Award.

Beyond her athletic achievements, Nichols gained significant public recognition as “Athlete A,” the first gymnast to report sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar in 2015. Her courage led to the disclosure of a wider scandal, and she was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2018 and the NCAA Inspiration Award in 2019. She has since used her platform for advocacy, is the author of a memoir, and works as a certified personal trainer, continuing to inspire others through her foundation.