Nevin Harrison
U.S. Olympian, sprint canoe, gold medalist, student
Age: 21
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Olympic Games: 2020
Gold: 2020
Athlete. Student. Powerhouse.
Nevin Harrison is a competitor. She’s a World Champion and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 gold medalist in Sprint Canoe for Team USA, and she’s looking to repeat in Paris. But Nevin is also so much more than the medals she’s earned. When she’s not paddling, she’s a student studying biology and medicine and wants to help others. In the boat and out, she’s making waves.
Athlete
Nevin has been an athlete for as long as she remembers. If there was a competitive sport to play, she played it. And more than that, she excelled at it. But when she was 14, she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Her doctors told her that she shouldn’t run or play the sports she loved. For most kids, this news would be disheartening but for someone like Nevin, this was devastating.
Then at summer camp, a counselor asked if she’d like to try sprint canoeing. Never turning down the opportunity to try something new, she hopped into the sleek boat and began to paddle. Nevin describes her first time paddling in a sprint canoe as the hardest thing she’d ever done. That camp counselor was also a former sprint canoe national team member and saw Nevin’s potential. They even joked that one day she would be World Champion. Turns out that counselor predicted the future.
Sprint canoeing, as Nevin describes it, is “like track on water.” Races are won and lost by fractions of a second. You need balance, an understanding of the wind and its effects on the waves, and mastery of the paddling technique. This is a sport where balance, determination, and skill are all key to victory.
What started out on a lake at summer camp led Nevin to compete at the World Championships at 17. An experience she remembers as, “the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Scarier than the Olympic Games even.” Nevin was relatively unknown in the Sprint Canoe world, and she was up against some of the best, fastest, and most experienced racers from around the globe.
At her first major competition, Nevin had no expectation besides showing up and putting on her best race. But as the day went on and she kept advancing, she found herself in the final race of the day–the championship race. With a win, she could qualify to be a representative of Team USA on sports’ biggest stage.
As she lined up for the final, Nevin’s only thought was, “I’ve got to make it to the Olympic Games.” And in the blink of an eye, she crossed the finish line. But it wasn’t until the safety boat let her know that she was the first to finish that reality set in. She was the new World Champion and had qualified a spot in the Games.
“I was successful in my sport, and I’m so proud of what I did. But at the same time, that isn’t the definition of my success.”
Student
Success in a boat was undeniable for Nevin, but she wanted to be seen as someone beyond the medals draped around her neck.
To add to her long list of accomplishments, she enrolled in college to study biology. The pursuit of medicine became her new goal, wanting a career helping others after her days of competing are behind her.
But Nevin still wants to add more hardware to her trophy case and balancing the rigors of university with the demands of training required more balance for her than staying upright on a storming lake.
“It took a lot out of me to try to make all those practices, but at the same time make all the classes, and do all my homework,” Nevin admits.
Yet, she found her balance in academia just as she did in a canoe. It was all about self-compassion. She realized that it was perfectly acceptable to skip a workout or to show up late to a class to recharge. Succeeding isn’t just about winning or acing the final exam. It’s about finding the right balance to put your best self forward as often as you can.
“When you do feel scared, you use that motivation to do better and to finish stronger.”
Explore Nevin’s gallery
To go in a straight line down the 200m race, and to do so in less than 46 seconds, Nevin constantly works on improving her “J-stroke.”
Swipe to see more images
Powerhouse
In 2020 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Nevin not only won gold but also etched her name into the history books. While sprint canoeing competitions have been held globally for decades, this was the first time for the women’s sprint in the Olympic Games, making Nevin the first female to win a gold medal in the 200m event.
A victory that cemented her as so much more than an athlete—she became a pioneer. That gold medal was a tribute to all the women who came before her. The ones who broke records. The ones who redefined the sport. The ones who never had a chance to showcase their talents at the Olympic Games.
“The significance of my win in Tokyo was a lot bigger than myself. It was a huge collection of years and years of women pushing for equality in sport.”
Nevin attributes becoming the World Champion at 17 and an Olympic Gold medalist at 19 to the strategy she brings to her races and her classes that contribute to performing at such a high level. Nevin takes the feelings of pressure, anxiety, and stress that come from being at the top and turns them into positive emotions. And combines that with a belief that no one will outwork or train harder than she will. Because when fractions of a second determine who’s at the top of the podium and who goes home empty handed, it’s the culmination of skill, training, and mindset that will help power your breakthrough.
Nevin’s constant pursuit of excellence is why Deloitte is proud to support Nevin as she prepares for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Because gold medals aren’t just handed out, they’re earned.
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