Jane Nicholas is a slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2009. Jane represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

from 2009 to 2018, before switching to the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

for the 2019 season, her father's country of birth.

Career

Nicholas made her international debut for New Zealand aged 16 at the 2009 Canoe Slalom World Cup, where she finished 26th in the overall ranking. At the

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2010 Junior World Championships Jane finished 14th in C1 and 40th in K1. At her final U23 World Championships at

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (; "Iguazu River mouth"), colloquially referred to as Foz, is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. Foz in Portuguese language, Portuguese means the mouth or end of a river and Iguaçu in Guarani language, Guarani or Tup ...

in 2015 she finished in 7th (K1 team), 16th (C1) and 29th (K1). At the end of the 2018 season Jane decided to switch her representation to the

for a number of reasons including: support from both NOC's; being of Cook Islander heritage; and Luuka Jones' dominance of the sport in New Zealand. Regarding the decision Nicholas stated: "I felt loyal to New Zealand as they had supported me through my whole slalom career. But I had the support of the Cooks, as well as New Zealand, to make the change". Jane earned her best senior World Championships results of 22nd (C1) and 39th (K1) at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

events, respectively. The latter performance earned the Cook Islands an Olympic quota for the K1 event at the

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as the 16th ranked eligible NOC. She was also permitted to compete in the inaugural C1 event due to having already earned a quota, making her 1 of

8 women ''8 Women'' () is a 2002 black comedy musical mystery film written and directed by François Ozon. Based on the 1958 play by Robert Thomas, it features an ensemble cast of high-profile French actresses: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, ...

to compete in both events. At the delayed 2020 Olympics Jane finished in 22nd place in K1 after being eliminated in the semifinal, and 21st in C1, being eliminated in the heats.

Personal life

Her father Rob had grown up in the Cooks Islands and moved to New Zealand at 15 with a high school scholarship. Nicholas herself was born in

Te Puna Te Puna is a rural community near Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on State Highway 2, north of Bethlehem and south of Katikati. The local Te Puna Quarry has been redeveloped by volunteers int ...

, near

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. At

Tauranga Girls' College Tauranga Girls' College is a state single-sex girls secondary school in Tauranga, New Zealand. It offers the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, NCEA system of qualifications. The school has a roll of students from years 9 to 13 (a ...

, she competed in water polo, basketball, netball, volleyball, cross country and canoe polo. By her final year, she had committed to basketball and canoe slalom. She continued to visit the Cook Islands and her relatives in

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

every year. Her sister

Ella Nicholas Ella Nicholas (born 15 December 1990 in Tauranga, New Zealand) is a Cook Islands slalom canoeist who has competed since 2007. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London she took part in the K1 event, finishing 18th in the heats, failing to qualify ...

competed at two Olympics, racing at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

for the Cook Islands and finishing 18th in the K1 category on both occasions. At the Rio Games Ella was also the Cook Islands flagbearer at the opening ceremony, and their brother

Bryden Nicholas Bryden Nicholas (born 10 March 1989 in Tauranga) is a New Zealand- Cook Islander slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2005. He finished in 21st place in the K1 event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro ...

made his Olympic debut, finishing 21st in the men's K1 event. Jane has studied medicine at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and has aspirations to become an

orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Nicholas resigned from her job at the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

District Health Board at the end of May 2019 in order to dedicate herself to qualifying for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and become the third member of their family to compete as Olympians. Following the postponement of the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

she continued to work in a hospital as a doctor post-lockdown.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Jane New Zealand female canoeists Cook Island female canoeists Sportspeople from Tauranga Living people Canoeists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 1992 births Olympic canoeists for the Cook Islands 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen