Maggie Nichols: Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year

Oklahoma gymnast also won the league's top award after her sophomore season

John E. Hoover | May 28, 2020

For the second time in her career, Oklahoma gymnast Maggie Nichols on Thursday was named Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year.

Nichols also earned the award in 2018 and is a two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year.

Owner of 22 perfect 10s in her career, she powered the Sooners to two team national championships (OU was heavy favorites this year to win a third in four years) and won six individual national titles with a shot at more before her senior year was canceled by pandemic.

She’s the only gymnast in the nation to earn All-American honors in all four disciplines as well as all-around.

The league will name its Male Athlete of the Year later Thursday afternoon.

Nichols is arguably the most decorated athlete in school history as well as one of the top collegiate gymnasts ever. This year she also won the AAI Award as the nation’s top senior gymnast and widely regarded as the Heisman Trophy of gymnastics.

Nichols is also the subject of a forthcoming Netflix documentary, “Athlete A,” about her courage throughout the traumatic experience of being a sexual assault survivor and how she continues to be an inspiration.

To get the latest OU posts as they happen, join the SI Sooners Community by clicking “Follow” at the top right corner of the page (mobile users can click the notifications bell icon), and follow SI Sooners on Twitter @All_Sooners.

Published May 28, 2020

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.