Nicole Yeargin acknowledges that the anxiety she felt after losing in the 400 meters at the 2008 Olympic Games KILLED her for a long period after she got back from Tokyo. However, the Scottish track star is certain that her ambition of competing in the Games is still alive and well after working with a mind guru to get her body and mind in gear. Yeargin is traveling with the women’s 4×400-meter relay team to Paris. She did, however, have aspirations of winning an individual medal three years prior when she finished third in her heat and was disqualified from the final due to a lane violation. The 26-year-old also claims that her desire for success is still motivated by that upsetting experience.
She uttered: “I suppose so! I believe that I became fearful and nervous, and you consider it each time you hit the track. It was the worry and the anxiety that was killing me. We have a race strategy, so working with my mindset coach has really helped me to get that clear. It’s been incredibly helpful that you know what to tell yourself when you start to feel that way.
Looking back, I almost feel like I got DQ’d because of the heat, and I haven’t done anything since. Therefore, I’m happy that I was able to run a 51.3 last month—that was my quickest time in the past two years—and it feels good to be returning at last.
Yeargin, who is a member of a seven-person 4x400m relay team traveling to Paris, has two bronze medals from world championship relays in 2022 and 2023 in addition to a bronze from the European tournament in 2022. She competed for Scotland in the 2022 Commonwealth Games relay and was a member of the women’s and mixed 4x400m teams that placed fifth and sixth in the finals in 2021. But even though she still needs to finish the collection of medals in Paris, she already has a place on her wall. “I want to give my team another 49 split,” the woman declared. Even if I didn’t go to the individual, I will always give the relay my all.