Coast boxer Skye Nicolson follows in the footsteps of late brother to fulfil her Olympic dream

When Gold Coast boxer Skye Nicolson goes for Olympic gold it won’t be just for herself, her family and her country but also for the brother she never met, writes Jeremy Pierce.

Even with fans banned from the Olympics, Skye Nicolson won’t be alone as she steps into the ring in Tokyo.

In an extraordinary journey to the world’s biggest stage, the Gold Coast boxer is following in the footsteps of the dead brother she never met who is now the “guardian angel” watching from above every time she takes on an opponent.

Boxer Skye Nicolson has an angel in her corner as she aims for Rio Olympics

Jamie Nicolson won a bronze medal as a featherweight at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 and fought at the Olympics in Barcelona two years later, but at 22 and with the boxing world at his feet, he was tragically killed in a car accident along with his younger brother Gavin in 1994.

They had been on their way to boxing training.

From the depths of unimaginable sadness came a miracle for the Nicolson family, a baby girl born a year later to parents Allan and Pat (who by then were well into their 40s).

That baby girl is now 25, the reigning Commonwealth Games women’s featherweight champion and has her sights set on Olympic glory by delivering Australia’s first boxing gold medal.

Gold Coast boxing star Skye Nicolson is chasing Olympic glory in Tokyo and following in the footsteps of her late brother Jamie Nicolson. Picture: Adam Head

But even as Tokyo organisers ban spectators under the weight of a new wave of coronavirus infections, Nicolson won’t be doing it alone and believes her brother is watching over her as he has for every fight of her career.

“I feel like he has been with me in the ring every single fight I’ve ever had since I was 12 years old,” she said.

“I find it so awesome that we’ve travelled such similar paths, decades apart and I do feel comfort in knowing that everything I go and do, he had already been there and done it all.”

Skye Nicolson was born to fight for Australia in the most beautiful story of the 2021 Games

Commonwealth Games 2018: Skye Nicolson’s emotional boxing gold medal

Australian boxer Skye Nicolson aims to emulate her lost brothers at Commonwealth Games

Nicolson has endured inevitable comparisons with her brother throughout her career – down to having the same southpaw (left-handed) stance, both winning Commonwealth and world championship medals and even competing in the same weight division, but she said she did not feel pressure to live up to his legacy.

Skye Nicolson’s brother Jamie Nicolson was also a champion boxer before his tragic death in 1994. Picture: Boxing Queensland.

“It’s very inspiring for me actually, and I’m so happy to have such an awesome role model in my brother who’s pretty much been my guardian angel this whole time,” she said.

“The Olympic Games will be no different and I think it gives me an extra edge just having that extra support that most people wouldn’t even understand.”

The decision to ban crowds was seen as inevitable as Japan struggles under the weight of surging coronavirus case numbers and Nicolson said it would not distract her from her goal.

“We’re used to fighting in empty stadiums, we’re used to not having our family there,” she said.

“It would have been amazing to have them (family) there and it would have been an amazing experience for my parents so I am sad they can’t be there but it definitely won’t affect my performance or affect how I’m feeling about it at all.”

It’s the latest curve ball thrown at athletes who have already endured a year-long delay for the Games and Nicolson said she had turned the experience into a positive.

“I really tried to just take it in my stride, to focus on the positives of having an extra year to be better, faster, stronger, to bring more to my game,” she said.

I”m grateful for the extra year. I’m a year older, a year wiser, and I’m better than I would have been 12 months ago.

“For me it’s been a blessing in disguise.”

Gold Coast boxing star Skye Nicolson is chasing gold at the Olympics in Tokyo. Picture: Adam Head

Nicolson’s Commonwealth Games gold in her home town three years ago thrust her on to the world stage.

She narrowly missed a coveted seeding for the Olympics, but is confident she has as shot at delivering Australia a historic first Olympic boxing gold medal.

Skye Nicolson celebrates winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Picture: Dan Peled (AAP)

“I believe I have the ability to win an Olympic gold medal and I back myself,” she said.

“I think if you don’t believe you can do it then what’s the point in going?

“I think I’m an underdog – Australia hasn’t won an Olympic boxing gold medal, male or female, ever, but at the same time I think I am quite respected in the world of women’s boxing and all of my opponents will know they’re going to get a hard fight when they get in the ring with me.”