“I honestly just was afraid of falling with the back kick.” The US track and field athlete was so afraid to fall again that she took to a different strategy of staying inside in the race. The fall and the fear that resulted from it ultimately cost her a direct qualification into the finals of the 2025 World Indoors. Appeals did come from the USATF, but it was ultimately disappointment that befell the 26-year-old. How did she fall? What was the appeal? Read along. 

Let’s Run staff writer, Jonathan Gault took to X to share that, “USATF filed a protest to get Nia Akins advanced to the World Indoor 800m final after her fall“. About 100 meters in, Nia Akins had fallen on the track in the semi-finals of the World Indoors on March 21st. She felt it was because of a back-kick from someone in front of her. The athlete, when asked about filing a protest, said “Yeah, I think we’re going to“. And that is what the USATF did but to no avail.

The tweet further said, “…but it was denied. The referee judged she was not impeded.”  The USATF protest was denied by the referee because they felt that the fall did not make it difficult for Nia Akins to race forward. The American was having a great race and picked herself up when she fell.

Despite the fall, she got back up and raced to finish fourth with a time of 2:04.38, behind Tsige Duguma (2:03.85), Nigist Getachew (2:04.01), and Patricia Silva (2:04.20). The top three automatically qualified for the finals of the championship. It’s an occasion where one spot could certainly have been hers if not for the fall. But she is happy nonetheless.

In an interview with Let’s Run after the race, she said, “I’m really happy with myself for just getting back up and finishing the best I could.” She did her best and that’s what matters, she put on a brilliant performance in the first round.

Nia Akins expected a medal

When the last Indoors took place in Glasgow, things were so bad for America that both women’s 800 runners and both men’s 400 runners failed to advance. This year that changed. In the first session of the 2025 World Indoor Athletics Championships on March 21st in Nanjing, nine of the ten Americans advanced from their prelims on the track. Nia Akins was one of them and she showed great promise as well.

The California native competed in the Women’s 800m Heats on day one of the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Finishing in the third position boosted her medal prospects. In the post-race interview with Let’s Run, she talked about the best team in the race. Akins said, “I feel like we’re the best team out there, so the expectation is for everybody to medal.” Well, she is out of the race for medals now and she can’t even do anything about it.

The track athlete who has also dealt with panic attacks in the past was “expecting a little bit higher level competition. Faster racing now that everybody’s gotten the first mile of the way“. She did not see a fall coming her way, but it wasn’t the first time she had fallen. In the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, she had also gotten back up again and finished the race. She is the 2024 United States national champion over 800m. The fall might have robbed her of the chance to race in the 2025 indoor finals. But she will rise again, don’t you think?