Lasting Impact...
By Lindsey Morrison
By Lindsey Morrison
When you think about the greatest athletes in Oklahoma history, Maggie Nichols is usually near the top of that list. With eight total national championships to her name along with a list of accolades and accomplishments that fills pages, it’s difficult to deny the legacy that a girl from Little Canada, Minnesota has left behind.
What makes Nichols stand out isn’t the number of rings on her hand or the trophies lining the shelves in her bedroom. It’s the perseverance and courage she constantly displayed when countless obstacles attempted to derail her dreams and goals. After a heartbreaking ending to her elite career, Oklahoma is where she learned to fall back in love with gymnastics.
“It means the world to be a part of the OU family,” Nichols shared. “I mean, even at the age of 10, I wanted to be a part of it, and here I am at 24 still around. I’m a coach now, so I don’t want to leave because I just feel like everyone at OU is family. You have so many people that care for you, will help you in your next steps of life. I’ve just loved the past five years of my life being a part of this OU family.”
Nichols was first introduced to Oklahoma when she was 10 years old. An older club teammate of hers was attending a camp in Norman that summer and asked if Nichols wanted to join. From the minute she stepped foot inside the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center, she was sold on the idea of one day becoming a Sooner.
“My older teammate, Brie Olson, was being recruited by Oklahoma and asked if I wanted to come to camp with her,” Nichols remembers. “I loved it the second I got here. Ever since that age and coming to that camp and that experience, I always turned back to Oklahoma. I visited other schools, but I always just loved it here and I loved the coaching staff. It just felt like home for me, and I felt like I was going to be the most successful here. I felt like KJ, Lou, and Tom were going to build me and my team into national champions, so even at that young age, I felt that Sooner Magic.”
Nichols wasn’t wrong about what the coaching staff would do not only for her team, but for her career. Nichols won two team championships with the Sooners in 2017 and 2019 and was part of the runner-up squad in 2018. Before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 season to be canceled prematurely, Nichols and the Sooners were poised to win yet another crown.
There were also multiple individual championships to come Nichols’ way. In 2017, she won her first title on the uneven bars. In 2018, she defended her uneven bars title along with winning the all-around and floor titles. In 2019, Nichols won another three titles to make her the most decorated gymnast in program history. In total she finished with six titles: two in the all-around, two on bars, one on floor and one on vault.
“It was so incredible and so special,” Nichols said. “I worked really hard in the gym to help my team out as best as I could and to have those titles is so special. Representing the best school in the nation, the University of Oklahoma, was so special to me.”
The accolades didn’t stop at the national titles. She became the first gymnast in Oklahoma history to win the prestigious AAI Award, often referred to as the Heisman Trophy of gymnastics. She was a 13-time NCAA All-American and 17-time WCGA All-American. In 2019, Nichols became just the sixth gymnast in NCAA history to win back-to-back all-around titles at the NCAA Championship.
Nichols was named the 2019 Honda Sport Award Winner for women’s gymnastics and was a finalist in all four years of her career. She was a two-time South Central Region Gymnast of the Year in both 2017 and 2018. Nichols is a six-time Big 12 individual champion and won an individual title on all four events and the all-around. She was the 2017 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year along with being named the 2018 and 2020 Big 12 Gymnast of the Year.
She rewrote the OU record books from the minute she first stepped on campus. After being just the second freshman to ever score a perfect 10 on any event, Nichols went one step further by securing a perfect 10 on every single event to secure a “Gym Slam.” Not only that, she was the first athlete in NCAA history to complete not one, but two “Gym Slams” after securing a perfect score on every event as a sophomore.
“I think I’m most proud of overcoming all of the obstacles that I’ve been through,” Nichols said. “I mean, yes, the accolades and the titles are great, but I had a lot of injuries and other obstacles I had to go through throughout my career, and so a lot of those were really hard to come back from mentally, physically, everything. I think that’s what I’m most proud of, and how I ended my career.”
Now, Nichols is giving back to the program that gave her so much. After a heartbreaking end to her career, Nichols wasn’t quite ready to leave OU. She enrolled in grad school and decided to stay with the program as a student coach. Nichols hopes that one day she’ll be able to give back even more and fund a scholarship to help future student-athletes in the same way she was.
“It’s been an amazing experience to be a coach now,” she shared. “I do miss competing and training and things like that but being a coach and being able to help as much as I can to grow these athletes into national champions is a great feeling for me. I’ve learned so much from KJ, Lou, and Tom. There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes, and I’m just so grateful for this opportunity to give back to the team and the university.”
“I would love to give a scholarship to an athlete who is always positive and always helping those around them,” she said. “Someone who just never gives up, but also always has a good attitude and is always working hard. The main thing is helping those around them, and just making the university a better place.”
Nichols’ drive to give back comes from her gratitude toward all those who have given so much to the university. From the fans who attend meets, to those helping fund future facility renovations, Nichols is forever grateful to those who want to help make OU the best it can be.
“Everyone at OU is very grateful for everything that we are given, and we are especially grateful to those who give back to our programs,” she shared. “The people who invest in us are a part of the OU family. That is what makes this place special. The people. From coaches to staff, to administration, to student-athletes to the generous Sooner Club members and donors. I am grateful for that.”
While people will remember Maggie Nichols for her lasting impact on Oklahoma, she’ll always remember the impact Oklahoma had on her.
What makes Nichols stand out isn’t the number of rings on her hand or the trophies lining the shelves in her bedroom. It’s the perseverance and courage she constantly displayed when countless obstacles attempted to derail her dreams and goals. After a heartbreaking ending to her elite career, Oklahoma is where she learned to fall back in love with gymnastics.
“It means the world to be a part of the OU family,” Nichols shared. “I mean, even at the age of 10, I wanted to be a part of it, and here I am at 24 still around. I’m a coach now, so I don’t want to leave because I just feel like everyone at OU is family. You have so many people that care for you, will help you in your next steps of life. I’ve just loved the past five years of my life being a part of this OU family.”
Nichols was first introduced to Oklahoma when she was 10 years old. An older club teammate of hers was attending a camp in Norman that summer and asked if Nichols wanted to join. From the minute she stepped foot inside the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center, she was sold on the idea of one day becoming a Sooner.
“My older teammate, Brie Olson, was being recruited by Oklahoma and asked if I wanted to come to camp with her,” Nichols remembers. “I loved it the second I got here. Ever since that age and coming to that camp and that experience, I always turned back to Oklahoma. I visited other schools, but I always just loved it here and I loved the coaching staff. It just felt like home for me, and I felt like I was going to be the most successful here. I felt like KJ, Lou, and Tom were going to build me and my team into national champions, so even at that young age, I felt that Sooner Magic.”
Nichols wasn’t wrong about what the coaching staff would do not only for her team, but for her career. Nichols won two team championships with the Sooners in 2017 and 2019 and was part of the runner-up squad in 2018. Before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 season to be canceled prematurely, Nichols and the Sooners were poised to win yet another crown.
There were also multiple individual championships to come Nichols’ way. In 2017, she won her first title on the uneven bars. In 2018, she defended her uneven bars title along with winning the all-around and floor titles. In 2019, Nichols won another three titles to make her the most decorated gymnast in program history. In total she finished with six titles: two in the all-around, two on bars, one on floor and one on vault.
“It was so incredible and so special,” Nichols said. “I worked really hard in the gym to help my team out as best as I could and to have those titles is so special. Representing the best school in the nation, the University of Oklahoma, was so special to me.”
The accolades didn’t stop at the national titles. She became the first gymnast in Oklahoma history to win the prestigious AAI Award, often referred to as the Heisman Trophy of gymnastics. She was a 13-time NCAA All-American and 17-time WCGA All-American. In 2019, Nichols became just the sixth gymnast in NCAA history to win back-to-back all-around titles at the NCAA Championship.
Nichols was named the 2019 Honda Sport Award Winner for women’s gymnastics and was a finalist in all four years of her career. She was a two-time South Central Region Gymnast of the Year in both 2017 and 2018. Nichols is a six-time Big 12 individual champion and won an individual title on all four events and the all-around. She was the 2017 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year along with being named the 2018 and 2020 Big 12 Gymnast of the Year.
She rewrote the OU record books from the minute she first stepped on campus. After being just the second freshman to ever score a perfect 10 on any event, Nichols went one step further by securing a perfect 10 on every single event to secure a “Gym Slam.” Not only that, she was the first athlete in NCAA history to complete not one, but two “Gym Slams” after securing a perfect score on every event as a sophomore.
“I think I’m most proud of overcoming all of the obstacles that I’ve been through,” Nichols said. “I mean, yes, the accolades and the titles are great, but I had a lot of injuries and other obstacles I had to go through throughout my career, and so a lot of those were really hard to come back from mentally, physically, everything. I think that’s what I’m most proud of, and how I ended my career.”
Now, Nichols is giving back to the program that gave her so much. After a heartbreaking end to her career, Nichols wasn’t quite ready to leave OU. She enrolled in grad school and decided to stay with the program as a student coach. Nichols hopes that one day she’ll be able to give back even more and fund a scholarship to help future student-athletes in the same way she was.
“It’s been an amazing experience to be a coach now,” she shared. “I do miss competing and training and things like that but being a coach and being able to help as much as I can to grow these athletes into national champions is a great feeling for me. I’ve learned so much from KJ, Lou, and Tom. There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes, and I’m just so grateful for this opportunity to give back to the team and the university.”
“I would love to give a scholarship to an athlete who is always positive and always helping those around them,” she said. “Someone who just never gives up, but also always has a good attitude and is always working hard. The main thing is helping those around them, and just making the university a better place.”
Nichols’ drive to give back comes from her gratitude toward all those who have given so much to the university. From the fans who attend meets, to those helping fund future facility renovations, Nichols is forever grateful to those who want to help make OU the best it can be.
“Everyone at OU is very grateful for everything that we are given, and we are especially grateful to those who give back to our programs,” she shared. “The people who invest in us are a part of the OU family. That is what makes this place special. The people. From coaches to staff, to administration, to student-athletes to the generous Sooner Club members and donors. I am grateful for that.”
While people will remember Maggie Nichols for her lasting impact on Oklahoma, she’ll always remember the impact Oklahoma had on her.
