Olympic gold medalist Nevin Harrison is coming to OKC. Her gold medal isn't. Here's why

Jenni Carlson

Nevin Harrison won Olympic gold less than three weeks ago.

Saturday night in Oklahoma City, the American canoe sprinter will be back on the water for her first post-Tokyo competition. The ICF Canoe Sprint Super Cup is the prime-time main event being televised internationally during the five-day Oklahoma PaddleSports Festival in the Boathouse District.

Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson caught up with Harrison on Friday as she was traveling to Oklahoma City.

Question: So, you're coming off the Olympics, such a big event. How do you get ready for another big race so quickly?

"To be completely transparent, I haven't quite been getting ready for this. (Chuckles) I think it's gonna be more of a fun event where we get to showcase ourselves as athletes rather than like, a really tough competition. ... I needed some time off, so I've really only been on the water once or twice since Tokyo, so it should be interesting to see how it goes."

Your race Saturday will be under the lights. Night racing isn't something you normally do. What do you think about racing under the lights?

"I have been waiting to for so long. I always hear about night sprints in Oklahoma, and yeah, I was so excited when I found out that this is going to be what we do. I think it's gonna be awesome."

Nevin Harrison holds her up gold medal after winning the women's canoe single 200-meter final on Aug. 5 in Tokyo.

Should it be weird to me to hear an Olympic paddlesport champ talking about being excited about racing in Oklahoma? I feel like it's still a little unbelievable Oklahoma City has become this destination for the sport.

"I grew up in the sport going to Oklahoma for nationals and trials and whatnot. I've kind of found that it's nice to sort of reconnect with things that were really big and exciting to me when I was younger. Going to Oklahoma for nationals with the biggest thing I did in 2016, so it's cool to kind of go back, reconnect and meet some of the younger kids who this is the biggest thing they're doing this year."

You talk about when you were younger — you're still only 19. You have only been doing sprint canoe for five years. How do you wrap your mind around how quickly you've risen to the top of your sport?

"I mean, it's a really short amount of time that I've been doing it. I got lucky; I kind of found the sport that sort of matched perfectly with me, so I was able to have that early growth, I guess. I didn't work for as long as lot of these athletes, but I worked really, really hard for the time that I was training. But yeah, it's a lot to be 19 and have all of this happened. I'm trying to do the normal 19-year-old stuff and trying to go to college and experience life, but it's really hard to do that when you have that label as the Olympic gold medalist on you. Which is OK because I've worked so hard."

Speaking of that gold medal, where are you keeping it these days?

"Well, I left my house to go to college, and I just left it sitting on my bedroom table, my desk, but my dad, he moved it into our cellar. I think I need to get a safe for it, but as of now, it's just kind of a little extra room decor."

Nevin Harrison celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's canoe single 200m final at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 5 in Tokyo.

So, you're not intending to carry it around with you?

"I think some athletes do bring it everywhere, but I lose everything. I'm not even gonna touch that. (laughs)"

You mentioned going to college. Have you started classes?

"I moved in (Thursday). ... I just moved in, and then flying (to Oklahoma City on Friday), and I fly back (Sunday), then start classes the next morning."

Sounds like racing Saturday night might be the easiest thing you do this week.


ICF Canoe Sprint Super Cup

When: Prelims at 4 p.m., finals at 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Boathouse District

What: More than 40 Olympians and world champions from 18 countries racing in 350-meter super sprints. The races will be followed by fireworks. A full schedule of events can be found at riversportokc.org.

Admission: Free