Decorated Thrower Looks To Continue Success

One could say that Harvard sophomore Nikki Okwelogu’s shot put and discus career has been successful.

After all, few people can claim to be a California State Champion, Ivy League Champion, Nigerian national champion, African Championship runner-up, Commonwealth Games finalist and World Junior Championship finalist.

Despite these achievements, humility stays at the forefront of the Crimson star, who admitted to being starstruck while competing internationally this summer.

“People that I admired, I was [now] competing against. It was insane,” Okwelogu said. “Looking around [at the] thousands of people in the audience, it was crazy.”

Though Okwelogu has now built a formidable reputation in the shot put and discus world, the roots to her success had a curious start.

PAGING PALAVICINI

A routine visit to the doctor’s at the age of five would initiate a crucial relationship for Nikki, as she met her future high school coach, Martin Palavicini, who worked as a physiologist.

“It was completely coincidental,” Palavicini said. “I met her mom, her, and her sister. It happened that they were in the same public school that I was teaching and coaching, so we spotted her early on.”

After tracking her progress throughout elementary school, Palavicini coached her from middle school through her senior year in high school, watching her develop into a top-five nationally ranked athlete in the shot put and discus.

Though Okwelogu excelled athletically, academics remained important, with both coach and athlete emphasizing success on and off the field.

“The main difficulty we had to face was her high standards in academics,” Palavicini said. “There was a lot of time in AP classes and scholastic work. We were very flexible to make sure she was successful at that end.”

Colleges would end up taking notice of her work ethic on both sides, as more than 80 programs recruited her before she ultimately decided to attend Harvard.

RECORD BREAKER

Okwelogu took Harvard by storm, moving seamlessly to collegiate competition. As a freshman, Okwelogu posted marks of 16.05 meters and 51.14 meters in the shot put and discus, respectively, to place her name on the record boards of the Gordon Indoor Track, a feat no Crimson thrower had accomplished in those events for over 20 years.

“Nikki’s got a great disposition and was able to make the transition better than most,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “She’s able to get the individual coaching attention to develop so she could focus on her strengths.”

In addition to breaking records, the sophomore established herself as the premier thrower in the Ancient Eight, taking home titles in the shot put for both indoors and outdoors, and placing second in the discus for outdoors.

Okwelogu credits a large part of this to the confidence she developed throughout the season.

“Nerves would be a huge factor in every meet,” Okwelogu said. “Over the course of the season I got very comfortable…and learned to trust myself.”

Unlike most Ivy League athletes, her season did not conclude with the collegiate season as she continued on to the international scene.

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Okwelogu first got the attention of the Nigerian team her junior year when her sister, Nonny, competed for them at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Both were eligible to compete for the US and Nigeria, ultimately choosing their ancestors’ country.

“I wouldn’t have known Nigeria was a possibility if they hadn’t found [Nonny] first,” Okwelogu said. “My mom facilitated, saying, ‘She has a sister who is up and coming, maybe you should look at her too.’”

The coaches kept an eye on her results, inviting her to compete with the Nigerian team this summer, where she would take home the Nigerian National Championship in the shot put and runner-up in discus.

She would follow the performance by being a finalist at the World Junior Championships in the shot put before competing in the biggest event of her career: the Commonwealth Games.

This internationally renowned competition is held by the Commonwealth of Nations, a group of mostly former British territories.

Okwelogu, a last-second addition to the Nigerian roster, was shell-shocked by the magnitude of the games.

“It’s literally like an Olympic games, an opening ceremony and fans everywhere,” Okwelogu said. “I had no idea until I walked into the stadium, and I was supposed to be warming up, but I was just looking around for a solid five minutes.”

The then-rising sophomore would hold her own, placing ninth in a field that included New Zealand’s two-time Olympic champion Valerie Adams.

Okwelogu wrapped up the summer with her first international medal, placing second in the African Championships in the shot put.

OLYMPIC DREAMS

With a taste of international competition and the initial shock gone, Okwelogu now hungers for more, with her sights set on qualifying to the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympic Games.

“Now I can see myself as a competitor,” Okwelogu said. “I went to those meets with the mentality that I’m so lucky…but I qualified not performing as well as I could have because I was in shock.”

“The biggest thing for her is to keep doing what she’s been doing,” Saretsky added. “She wants more of it and at the end of the day you’ve got to continue to focus on the process.”

Palavicini believes the girl he met 15 years ago in the small office will continue to shine.

“I still remember that little girl when she was five,” Palavicini said. “From elementary, to junior high and on to college, I look forward to see whatever the future brings for her.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at jfierro01@college.harvard.edu.