A story years in the making finishes without a finale.
In the last of 800-meter semifinal heats, 2020 graduate Nia Akins finished third with a time of 1:58.20. This time earned her 10th overall — just short of qualifying for Monday’s final. The top two in each semifinal heat and the next two fastest times qualify for the final.
Heading into the games, the competition was fierce — headlined by Tokyo silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Team Great Britain. However, the San Diego, Calif. native is not unfamiliar with a difficult path to glory.
Her journey to her first Olympic berth is one of determination and perseverance. After a devastating mid-race fall at the 2020 Olympic Track and Field Trials, Akins redeemed herself by putting up an incredible performance at the 2024 Trials — where frontrunner and reigning Olympic champion Athing Mu suffered a similar catastrophic fall.
In Paris, the School of Nursing graduate had a great start to her quest for Olympic glory. In heat four of the first round, Akins finished second to Hodgkinson. The two stayed in the top two positions for the majority of the race. However, Benin’s Noelie Yarigo tried to make a move in the final stretch, but Akins held her off and finished 0.01 seconds ahead to win second place in the heat — which advanced her to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, while Akins and Hodgkinson again faced off, the race itself was a different story.
In the first 400 meters, Akins was in the middle of the pack in fifth and holding strong. As Akins came around the final stretch, she began to push from the outside to move into the front. In the last meters, Akins rallied into third but fell just short of passing South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso, who finished second in the heat. Hodgkinson dominated the field and finished first in a time of 1:56.86.
The top two in each semifinal heat and the next two fastest times qualify for the final. While there was a hope that Akins could qualify based on her time, two runners in the second semifinal heat finished ahead of Akins’ 1:58.20 — American teammate Juliette Whittaker and France’s Renelle Lamote.
While Akins may be out of the final, the Penn community and the greater United States can rally behind Whittaker — sister of 2024 graduate Isabella Whittaker, who is competing as part of the 4x400m relay pool in Paris.
Whittaker, similar to Akins, had a quiet first half. At the halfway point, she was fourth and falling to sixth heading into the final stretch. However, Whitaker had a phenomenal close — moving into the outside and putting up a gutsy finish for third in her heat with a time of 1:57.76. Her time was the top time of the non-top-two finishers and remained so after the final heat to qualify her by time into Monday’s final. Akins finished just 0.43 seconds off of qualifying by time into the final.
While not the outcome she wanted, Akins will be remembered for her incredible work ethic and perseverance that brought her to her first Olympic Games. Despite the setback, Akins is expected to work her way back to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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