Paralympian heads back to Rio, on her bike
‘‘I just want to prove that I'm a good athlete, doing two sports is an achievement in itself I think.’’ Nikita Howarth
Waikato para-cyclist Nikita Howarth has traded one black line for another in the next step of her remarkable sporting career.
Howarth, from Cambridge, became New Zealand’s youngest Paralympian at the age of 13 when she represented her country in the pool at the 2012 Paralympics in London, winning swimming gold and bronze at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
Despite hopping back in the pool after a five-month break, chasing the black line on the bottom had lost its appeal after the highs of Rio.
The now 19-year-old found her passion for swimming had ebbed and decided to pursue an interest in cycling.
This interest had been stoked as an eight-year-old during a school visit by world, Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion cyclist Sarah Ulmer.
‘‘I did a development cycling camp a few months after Rio and I loved it and I was like, ‘you know what, I’m going to switch’.
‘‘I didn’t think there was going to be a little black line in cycling, but there is that one that goes around the bottom that you follow.’’
Howarth has been selected in a nine-strong New Zealand team for the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, which will take her back to Rio in March.
‘‘To get to worlds 18 months after I finished swimming is pretty extreme for me.
‘‘I just want to prove that I’m a good athlete, doing two sports is an achievement in itself I think, and a medal or two wouldn’t hurt, but that’s long term stuff.’’
Howarth was born with a congenital bilateral arm deficiency, with no right hand and her left arm ending below the elbow.