Nikki Hiltz recently reflected on how challenging this season has been, despite winning another national title. On August 2, they took their sixth straight 1500m title at the USATF Outdoor Championships, finishing in 4:03.15s. Hiltz edged out Sinclaire Johnson, who finished second in 4:03.77s and Emily Mackay, who was third with 4:04.38s.In a post-race interview, Hiltz opened up about how tough the year has been. Earlier this spring, they switched coaches after working with Mike Smith for years and started training with Juli Benson. Not long after, Hiltz suffered a hamstring flare-up during a speed workout in May, which disrupted their training. They said: “It’s been a hard year. Like, I think from the outside, you can see it looks very linear, like, ‘Oh, Nikki’s just repeating and running well,’ but it’s been so hard… So I switched coaches. In March, I started working with Julie, which isn’t that long ago. It’s been a bit of an adjustment… But even change, like, even if it’s good change, change is hard.” (via speakurpiece)Nikki Hiltz shared that they had never faced a hamstring injury before, and unlike previous bone injuries that were easier to manage with a boot and recovery, dealing with a muscle injury was different. Following that, Hiltz and their partner were involved in a car accident in June:“You know, and then I had a little hamstring thing come up. I've never dealt with a muscle injury before. Like, all my injuries have been bone injuries, which sucks, but you’re just in a boot, and then it’s fixed. But a muscle injury was weird... And then Emma and I, my partner and I, got in a really scary car accident. Yeah, it was in the middle of June, and it just rocked us. Like, it was just scary.” View this post on Instagram Instagram PostNikki Hiltz, who holds the American mile record at 4:16.35s, has won eight straight U.S. national titles across different events, including the 1500m and 3000m indoor titles earlier this year.Nikki Hiltz reacts after winning 1500m at National Championships2025 USATF Outdoor Championships - Source: GettyNikki Hiltz’s 2025 season started strong, with a sweep of the 1500m and 3000m at the USATF Indoor Championships in February. In April at the Grand Slam meet in Kingston, they set an 800m meet record of 1:58.23s and finished third in the 1500m.After clinching their eighth consecutive national title and securing spot on Team USA for the World Championships, Hiltz posted on Instagram:“This feeling never gets old! 6x National Champ in the 1500m 🇺🇸 I’m proud of this one. So grateful for my people and excited for the rest of the season! We’re just getting started fam! 🇯🇵🔜”At the Paris Olympics, Nikki Hiltz finished seventh in the 1500m. They came out as nonbinary in 2021 and followed U.S. skateboarder Alana Smith and Canadian soccer player Quinn, who were the first openly nonbinary athletes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.