Nikita Mawhirt is a Modern Pentathlete who was awarded a Tier 2 Scholarship within the 2021 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Nikita was born in Perth in 2000 and reached state level for Swimming and national level for Showjumping as a child. She thought she would have to choose between Swimming or Showjumping if she wanted to represent her country at the Olympic Games, but discovered Modern Pentathlon while watching London 2012, and set about mastering Fencing, Cross-Country running and Shooting.
As a multi-sport athlete, Nikita belongs to University of Western Australia Fencing Club, Swan Valley Horse and Pony Club, Front Runner Sports and Scarborough Beach Swimming Club.
A year after taking up Fencing, Nikita represented Australia for the first time in Modern Pentathlon at the Asia-Oceania Championships in Beijing in 2015. In 2017, she qualified for her first world championships team at Youth and Junior level, and performed well enough to be selected for the Youth Olympic Games in 2018, which was a dream come true.
Nikita has enjoyed success in the individual sport of Fencing, and this helped lead her to gold at the 2020 Modern Pentathlon national championships where she became the first woman from WA to win the title. She is now determined to make the finals of the Junior World Championships in 2021, and to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in 2024 and beyond.
In between training for five different sports, Nikita is studying for a Bachelor of Sports Science, Exercise and Health, and aspires to work with high-performance athletes, as well as promoting the sport of Modern Pentathlon and providing opportunities for disadvantaged athletes.
“I cannot put into words how grateful I am to receive a SAHOF Scholarship. It was both a surprise and a shock to receive the call as I know how many talented athletes all around Australia apply for the program. With Modern Pentathlon being such a small sport in Australia, let alone WA, having the support of SAHOF is a real honour and privilege and I can’t thank them enough for this opportunity. I’m really looking forward to training hard over summer and what will hopefully be a positive year ahead.” – Nikita Mawhirt on being selected as a 2021 Tier 2 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2018: Youth Olympic Games, Buenos Aires – 22nd and top 3 in Fencing
- 2018: Asia Oceania Championships – 12th, U19
- 2018: International Modern Pentathlon Trophy – 23rd, U19
- 2019: Australian Modern Pentathlon National Championships – Silver
- 2019: Australian Junior Fencing Championships – Gold, Epee teams
- 2020: Australian Modern Pentathlon National Championships – Gold
- 2021: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 2
