Melissa_Nicholls
Mel Nicholls
British wheelchair racer
Melissa Nicholls (born 17 July 1977) is a British wheelchair athlete specialising in middle-distance events in the T34 classification.[1] Nicholls competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics and won a silver medal in the 800m at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships.
.jpg) in 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1977-07-17) 17 July 1977 (age 46) Worcester, United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wheelchair racing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | sprint middle distance | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Coventry Godiva Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Job King [club] Paula Dunn [national] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nicholls was born in Worcester in 1977.[1] She studied Equine Science at Hartpury College and works as a teaching assistant at Winchcombe Abbey School.[2][3]
Nicholls was involved in a serious car accident which left her with heart complications.[2] From 2001 she had a series of strokes, while a stroke in 2008 left her unable to use her left arm and leg.[2][4] In April 2009 doctors discovered a hole in her heart for which she underwent corrective surgery.[2]
In 2020, Nicholls had a 5 kg ovarian tumour removed at Cheltenham General Hospital.[5]
Nicholls first wheelchair race was at Stoke Gifford at an open event in 2010.[1] In 2011, she was classified as a T34 athlete and that summer attended multiple meets across Britain as well as events in Switzerland and Netherlands competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m races.[1]
By early 2012 Nicholls had posted a sub-21 second 100m sprint and qualified for the Summer Paralympics in London, as part of the Great Britain team, in both the 100m and 200m events.[1] In the 100m she was drawn in the first heat but her time of 22.41 saw her fail to progress to the final.[1] In the 200m heats she finished fourth and qualified for the final.[1] Nicholls finished seventh with a time of 40.00.[1]
In 2014 Nicholls represented Britain in the IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea. There she won her first major international medals, with a bronze in the T34 100m, and a silver in her favoured 800m event.[1] In the 800m Nicholls finished just a second behind teammate Hannah Cockroft with a time of 2:16.68.[6]
In 2019, Nicholls set a new world record, handcycling from Land's End to John O'Groats in under seven days. In 2021, she undertook a 75-day, 4,800-mile handcycle journey around the coast of the United Kingdom, starting and finishing in her hometown of Tewkesbury, and raising £1,590 for Ovarian Cancer Action.[5]
- "Mel Nicholls". thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- "Nicholls, Mel". IPC. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- "Paralympic Athlete: Mel Nicholls". heart.co.uk. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- "Melissa Nicholls' on a mission for Paralympic glory". bristolpost.co.uk. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
- "Mel Nicholls: Paralympian completes handcycle journey around UK". BBC News. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- "Women's 800m - T34 Final". IPC. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.