Laviai Nielsen

Laviai Nielsen (born 13 March 1996[1]) is a British sprinter. She has won, as a member of the 4x400 metres relay team, a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships.

Laviai Nielsen
Nielsen in 2017
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1996-03-13) 13 March 1996
Home townLondon, England
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)400 metres
ClubEnfield and Haringey AC
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 400m: 50.83 (2019)
  • Indoor
  • 400 m: 51.90i (2017)
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
2017 London4×400 m
European Indoor Championships
2019 Glasgow4×400 m
2017 Belgrade4×400 m
European Junior Championships
2015 Eskilstuna400 m
2015 Eskilstuna4×400 m
Nielsen (right) in silver 4x400 m relay team at the 2017 World Championships

Nielsen has an identical twin sister, Lina Nielsen, who is also an international athlete in the same events.[2][3]

Early life

Nielsen grew up in Leytonstone, East London.[4] At 16, she was a bag carrier for British heptathlete Jessica Ennis at the 2012 London Olympics, 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]

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

Career

Nielsen was initially a middle distance runner,[4] 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.[4]

Nielsen's breakthrough year came in 2015, 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.[7] Nielsen also lowered her personal best to 52.25s, the British junior's third-fastest performance of all time and the fastest time since 33 years.[8] 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]

She became a double British champion when successfully defending her 400 metres event at the 2020 British Athletics Championships in a time of 51.72 secs.[14]

Achievements

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Great Britain
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, OR, USA 2nd 4×400 m 3:35.37 [n 1]
2015 European Junior Championships Eskilstuna, Sweden 1st 400 m 52.58
1st 4x400 m 3:34.36
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrad, Serbia 4th 400 m 52.79
2nd 4x400 m 3:31.05
  1. Time from the heats; Nielsen was replaced in the final

References
  1. "Laviai NIELSEN – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 20 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Meet the GB twins going for gold in Belgrade". BBC Sport. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. Debbie Black (12 August 2015). "What It's Actually Like To Train With Professional Athletes". Elle. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  4. 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.
  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. "Right To Play ambassadors". Right To Play. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  7. "Laviai Nielsen". britishathletics.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. "Records tumble for Performance Athletes". King's College London. Retrieved 21 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  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. "Results list". British Athletics. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
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