"Happier and peace in my body"- Nikki Hiltz gets real about gender affirming care surgery impacting their performance

American middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz reflected on the gender affirming care surgery and how it impacted their performance on an international level. Hiltz has participated in a Q&A session with Instagram followers.

During the Q&A session, Hiltz was bombarded with multiple questions. One user asked how 'top surgery' impacted their overall performance. Hiltz was also asked if lesser weight played an important role.

Hiltz laid a blueprint for their future plans, as they mentioned,

"Lots of questions about top surgery as well! Maybe my return to YouTube will be answering the questions y'all have! This one however, I'll answer here since I have somewhat of a platform and I know some young runners and their parents follow me. I want to be so very clear when I say this... Less weight does not equal faster"

Screengrab of Nikki Hiltz's Instagram stories [Image Source : Nikki Hiltz's Instagram]

The middle-distance runner further added,

"The biggest way top surgery helped me performance wise was in my confidence. Since Sep of 2024, I've felt so much happier and at peace in my body. I've always found that when I can hold my head high off to the track that it always finds a way to translates onto the track as well."

Nikki Hiltz further discussed plans of trying their luck in the marathon event. However, their current priority would be the women's 1500m event.

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When Nikki Hiltz opened up about embracing their transgender identity

Nikki Hiltz at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 [Image Source: Getty]

Nikki Hiltz previously opened up about embracing their identity as a non-binary, transgender athlete. The American middle-distance runner was born as a female runner, though they transitioned to the non-binary status in 2021.

In an interview with the Olympics.com website, Hiltz remarked about their identity. They said,

“I’m just like competitive as hell.When I get on the track, I just want to beat everyone. But I’m not always going to be an athlete. I’m always going to be trans. So it’s a really cool point in my life where I get to be both, loudly and proudly.” (via olympics.com)

Nikki Hiltz became the first trans athlete to compete at the Olympics by qualifying for the women's 1500m event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hiltz qualified for the finals of the women's 1500m and finished seventh overall. The American middle-distance runner improved their performance at the 2025 World Championships, where they finished fifth overall.

Edited by Animesh Pandey