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CJ Nickolas became the first taekwondo athlete from the United States to secure a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics after becoming the second-ranked athlete in the world in the men’s 80kg division.
With this, he is also the first USA taekwondo athlete in the men’s division to qualify for the Summer Olympics since the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2020 Games in Tokyo, the USA team didn’t have any male representative in Taekwondo for the first time since the sport made its debut at the Games in 2000.
Team USA announced about CJ Nickolas’ qualification on X (formerly Twitter), stating:
“Next stop: Paris! 🥋 @cj_nickolas is not only the first @USA_Taekwondo athlete to qualify for @Paris2024 but also the first American man to do so since Rio 2016. 🇺🇸”
CJ Nickolas rose to the spotlight when he clinched a silver medal at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in the men’s 80kg. With this achievement, the United States finally won a medal in the men's category at the World Championships, ending a 13-year drought.
In Baku, Nickolas defeated the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist from Egypt, Seif Eissa, in the semi-finals, before losing to the World No. 1 Simone Alessio in the finals. Also known as Carl Alan Nickolas Jr, he advanced to senior competitions after winning a silver medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships in the 68kg division.
The 22-year-old is also a two-time Pan American Taekwondo Championships gold medalist. Some of his other achievements include clinching a bronze medal at the Paris Grand Prix in September 2023 and representing the nation at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships.
CJ Nickolas and his mother trained together
CJ Nickolas began playing Taekwondo at the tender age of three, in Contra Costa County. However, he wasn’t training all alone as his mother had enrolled both herself and Nickolas in the center.
In an interview with NBC’s Jodi Hernandez, Nickolas’ mother humorously stated:
“Funny story, once upon a time, I used to be better than CJ and I always tease him about that.”
The top American Taekwondo athlete also mentioned the same, stating:
“When I was growing up, she was just training right next to me. Like the whole time that I was training, she was right. I could see her in the corner of my eye training as well. So I couldn't let my mom outdo.”
Nickolas said that when he was younger, his mother used to train alongside him. He humorously added that he couldn't let his mom be better than him at the sport.
