Olympic Runner Nikki Hiltz Is Finding Their Joy, On and Off the Track

What I remember most about the recovery timeline was I really wanted to go to the White House that September with all the other Olympians and Paralympians to celebrate after we all came home from the Games. Obviously, back then Joe Biden lived there…

It was a different house.

[Laughs.] It was a different house. That’s where I would be given an Olympic ring, and I just wanted to celebrate, especially with all the people I’d competed alongside. I remember asking my surgeon if I could get on a plane, and he was very firmly like: No, I wouldn’t recommend it. But it was just kind of a decision that I made, and it was pretty last minute. I’m so glad I did. It was such a fun trip. No one knew I’d had the surgery because it was just personal. I wasn’t really sharing with anyone other than the people in my close circle. My first shirtless run after top surgery happened so much later than I thought it would; it was probably almost a year later.

How was that first shirtless run when it finally happened? Did you feel like you wanted to mark the moment in any way?

Oh, yeah. I was just with Emma, and we were on a trail, kind of out of town…and Emma had taken her shirt off. I was like, I’m gonna take my shirt off. It was special, because it was this moment of just me and her on a run. But then she got so mad at me! [Laughs.] She was like, “Did you put sunblock on? Okay, you can only have it off for like five minutes. You’re going to get burned!”

For many trans celebrities, and especially trans athletes, engaging with the press and the media can mean inaccurate or invasive coverage, harassment, and abusive comments. Do you feel like your relationship to fame—and to media coverage of your life—is evolving alongside your career and your growing stature in the sports world?

I think part of my personality is that I don’t mind being the center of attention. You know, I don’t know if you’re into astrology at all, but there’s definitely some Leo in my chart.

Since coming out, I’ve developed a stronger sense of self and I just care less. I love me and the people who I love love me, and that’s what matters most. But I think that, in order to get there, it took a lot of setting boundaries with the media. In the past, when I would talk to anyone and everyone, sometimes when I would share my stories, the titles of the articles would become super clickbait-y and with not a lot of context. It would be like, “Transgender Runner on Women’s Olympic Team.” And then the entire comment section is readers who think that I’m a trans man who is on testosterone, and they’re like, That’s not fair! And I’m like, okay, well, I’m not taking testosterone. Or it goes the other way, and they think I’m a trans woman, and they’re like: No biological men in women’s sports! It’s like, no one can even insult me correctly. They don’t even understand who I am or what’s happening.