Alana Nicholls

Nicknamed Lans,[2] Nicholls was born 6 April 1986 in Perth, Western Australia.[2][3] She attended Our Lady of Lourdes in Perth before going to high school at Chisholm Catholic College.[3] She has a part-time job working for CITIC Pacific Mining Management, a mining company.[2] As of 2012, she lives in the Perth[3][4] suburb of City Beach.[2]

Nicholls 172 centimetres (68 in) is tall and weighs 66 kilograms (146 lb).[3]

Nicholls is a member of the Bayswater Paddle Sport Club,[2][3] and has a canoe scholarship with the WA Institute of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport.[2][3] Her primary training base is in Bayswater, Western Australia with a secondary base on the Gold Coast of Queensland.[2][3] She is currently coached by Ramon Andersson and Michael Pond who became her coaches in 2008.[2][3]

Nicholls competed at her first World Cup event, World Cup 2 in Racice, Czech Republic, in 2011 where she won the K-1 500 m event.[3][4] She finished 4th in the K1 200m event and 5th in the K1 500m event at the 2011 World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.[3][4] She finished 2nd in the K1 500m event at the World Cup 1 in Poznan, Poland.[3] She was the 2011 Australian Canoeing Athlete of the Year.[2] In 2012, she medaled in the K-1 200 m and K-1 500 m events at World Cups in May:[4] she finished 1st in the K1 500m event and 1st in the K1 200m event at the 2012 National Championships in Penrith, Australia[3] and she finished 1st in the K1 500m event and 2nd in the K1 200m event at the 2012 Sprint Oceania Championships in Penrith, Australia.[3]

Nicholls has been selected to represent Australia at 2012 Summer Olympics in the K-1 200 m and K-1 500 m events.[4] Before the start of the Games, she and her canoe teammates trained in Italy at the AIS European Training Centre located in Varese.[5][6]