by Stuart WeirLina Nielsen’s big plans
2025 is a big year for Lina Nielsen. Just before last weekend’s GB Championships and World Championship trials, she told me that she has a clear goal for the season: “I would like to get into the world final. Because that isn’t until September, I’m trying not to get too worried about what other people are running. It’s easy to look at other people’s times and wonder: should I be running more? I haven’t raced that much. I know that getting to the final is not made so much in the semifinal as in all the training sessions you put in during the year. I feel that I have ticked all the boxes this winter to ensure I’m ready for September. I battled some of the best girls in the Grand Slam. And to run against them and feel that I’m as good as they are, helps”.
In 2022, Lina ran in the World Championships but was ill and finished last in her heat. She was still struggling with illness in 2023, but then ran a PR (54.43) at the European Championships in Rome, 2024. At the Paris Olympics, she ran 54.65 to qualify comfortably for the semi-finals but tripped on a hurdle in the semi-finals before picking up an Olympic relay medal. She said of her first Olympics: “Paris was a good experience. I would consider that as my first experience on the world stage. Oregon 2022 was my first actual appearance, but I was experiencing problems with MS. Paris was the first time I competed on the world stage, at the age of 28. Call me a late developer!
“I learned so much from that experience. You can’t emulate that kind of experience in training or races. You have to be in a championship. I took so much from the championship. It was nice to share the relay podium with my sister, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I relive it most days and carry fond memories back. We have had hard years, and hopefully it’s something we can repeat in the future. I left Paris a completely different athlete – running to win and battling. I have made a lot of changes in the winter, and hopefully, when we get to the main part of the season, which will be quite late, late July and early August, you will see the results of all that hard work”.
That confidence showed in the 2025 GB champs when she won comfortably. The time (55.39) was not great, but it was all about winning and securing a spot on the team for Tokyo. She commented, “This is the most nerve-wracking part of any season. I am excited when I get to the main stage, but this is always tough. Now that this is over, I can get excited about the world. When I came out for the heats yesterday, it was very windy, so I didn’t get the stride pattern I was after. So, I knew I had to tackle the back straight today. I came into the event feeling strong and powerful, and I know I can build on these performances”.
Going back to the PR in Rome last year – a typical athlete’s reaction – she was not satisfied with it. “It was good, but I still wasn’t too happy with it. Athletes are always looking for faster times, and last season wasn’t the one I was hoping for. I was having issues as well. I am carrying that frustration into this year. I was happy to see the time, but there is a better time in there that I am hoping to see at some point”.
Lina didn’t start as a hurdler: “I switched to the hurdles when I was 23 – quite late as well. I am a late bloomer in everything! Honestly, I was bored with the 400 flat. It is one of those events that, when it goes wrong, it can go very wrong. So I thought I’d try it with some barriers in the way. I wasn’t too bad as a natural hurdler. I tried it one day, and it seemed fun and challenging; I loved it – the adrenaline as you’re coming up to the last two hurdles and your legs are on fire. Completing a 400-meter hurdles is much more satisfying than a flat 400-meter. Years later, I know the event well and I’m ready to battle the best in the world”.
Lina has a twin sister, Laviai, also an elite athlete and a 400m runner. Winning Olympic relay medals together in Paris was a highlight of their lives. I wondered how she viewed having a twin: “I would say it’s an advantage because you’ve got someone who’s a carbon copy of you on the track. When we’re training together and one of us is falling behind, you know that you shouldn’t be falling behind because we have the same bodies and are doing the same training. It’s also great to have somebody who understands the highs and lows of the sport without you having to explain it – someone who gets it”.
Lina has often been in the shadow of her sister Laviai, but things did not go well for Laviai in the trials, where she finished sixth in the 400 flat in 52.04, so a relay place is probably the best she can hope for. I know how much it would mean to them to go to another championship together.
The sisters do a YouTube blog together called The Nielsen Twins: “It’s falling off a bit at the moment because we’ve been so busy. Last year was good because we came away from Paris with medals, and people commented on how they had been able to follow our journey all through the build-up. It’s something that we do mainly for ourselves, but people keep asking us when the next one is coming out – life gets in the way. We love doing it.”
The Nielsen Twins – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@linalaviainielsen836
