SEATTLE — At the Toyko Olympics, Seattle's Nevin Harrison became the first American woman to win a gold medal in sprint canoe.
While her path to a second gold has not been smooth sailing, the Roosevelt High Alum is back and ready to defend her title.
"When you are out on the water, nothing can really affect you from the outside," Harrison said. "It's just this ultimate, tranquil, calmness, you can't find anywhere else."
Becoming the best in the world is not easy. Staying on top is even harder.
"People don't understand the work that gets put in behind the scenes," Harrison said. "People don't realize how many hours it is. how exhausting, how much time and energy and heart you have to put in, I think people just see the shiny good parts and they don't see the parts that really suck."
In 2021, Harrison shocked the world by winning an Olympic gold medal at the age of 19. But post-Olympic blues followed.
"I thought that if I won a gold medal, my life would be a fairy tale, rainbow magical adventure land, and that wasn't the case," Harrison said. "It actually got (a) hell of a lot harder."
Being on top was a lonely place.
"Balance has been one of my biggest struggles in the last couple of years because one of the biggest things that affected me was right in Tokyo," Harrison said. "An interviewer asked me, 'What do I do for fun?' and I sat there looking at them. What do I need to make up right now to tell them what I do for fun? Because I realized I didn't do anything for fun, really."
So, the Seattle native moved to San Diego for school and picked up some hobbies. From surfboards to motorbikes to modeling, Harrison was having fun.
"I made it my biggest goal when I finished Toyko, I'm going to hobbies, find new things, and I went to school and I started doing things I love, making new friends and having friend groups and going out and experiencing life, which I never got to do before," Harrison said.
Lost in the joys of life, Harrison reminded herself that she needed to get back to work. But the grind would start to take its toll.
"I really in the last two years, I've had a hard time falling out of love with my sport and not showing up to practice and enjoying it every day," Harrison said. "I was trying to push myself into doing something that I wasn't really enjoying doing and then on top of that, adding pain to it.
The pain came from a back injury suffered in June 2023.
"I woke up the next morning after that day where I injured my back and I remember (thinking), 'This is bad. This is really bad' because I couldn't even really sit up. And that's never happened to me before, and I knew that I had about two months until I had to requalify for the Olympics. So, I really thought I was screwed."
But Harrison has never accepted losing. At the 2023 World Championships, far from 100%, she finished in the top four, which earned her a spot in Paris.
"Once I lined up for that final, my mind was strong enough to where I was able to push my body to what I needed to do," Harrison said. "I think in a way it was kind of a surprise because I've had a really tough couple of years. So, I was really excited to come home with an Olympic spot."
Harrison returned to the Chula Vista Olympic training site with a new perspective. Injuries taught her she wasn't invincible, taking fourth humbled her, but it re-fueled her competitive fire.
"I have a lot of really good plans, and a lot of motivation that I might not have had last year," Harrison said. "So, I'm the underdog again, I guess so, it's time. It's good to be the underdog, it is, they think I fell back, but they are not ready."
It's also good she's found joy again in the water.
"I think I'm learning to fall back in love with it," Harrison said. "I'm just going to finish it out really, really strong and put my best foot out in Paris and hopefully bring home a gold again."