A pioneer on the track

Originally from the small town of Dronten in the Netherlands, Boon remembers training with her brothers — one older, one younger — alongside fields of tulips and maize. As a child, her favorite event was the shot put, while her brothers preferred the sprints. All three are decathlon athletes.

“We grew up on the track,” Boon says. “Our parents did track when they were younger, so as soon as I was old enough to join the club, that’s what I did. I’ve always loved it and have never stopped.”

As part of Emory’s Track and Field team, Boon has excelled as a multi-event athlete across NCAA Division III competitions: She won the 2025 pentathlon, becoming the first woman to ever surpass 4,000 points in Division III history, and she was the national champion of the 2025 outdoor heptathlon. In 2024 and 2025, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named Boon the South/Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Now, as a female decathlon competitor, Boon is in relatively uncharted territory — in fact, her world championship win was her first official competition. Historically, women participated in the heptathlon, which has seven events to the decathlon’s 10.

Decathlon events include: 100-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run, 100-meter hurdles, javelin throw, discus throw, pole vault, and 1,500-meter run. The discus throw, pole vault and 1,500-meter run are not part of the heptathlon.

Boon came to Emory as a heptathlon athlete but, having trained with her brothers since childhood, she knew she could excel in all 10 events. She decided to compete in the second-ever Women’s Decathlon World Championships to help blaze a trail for athletes like her.

“Women weren’t allowed to compete in certain events like pole vault until the ‘70s or ‘80s, so not that long ago,” says Jessica Fritsche, assistant coach for Emory Track and Field and Boon’s trainer. “That delayed the thought of ever adding some events to the heptathlon.”

“The women’s decathlon movement is new, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Boon says. “It’s a movement for equality in women’s sports.”

And now, she is one of its biggest names.

The morning of the World Championships, Boon arrived ready to go. She isn’t one for superstitious or lengthy routines. “I try not to get in my head,” she explains. “I just listen to music and keep myself in a good mood. I gave Jessica a fist bump and said, ‘Let’s send it.’”

What’s on the pregame playlist? “Lots of T-Pain and Usher,” she says.

Fritsche already has Boon training for next year’s competition: “We’ll see if she can have a jab at the world record for best overall score. I think it’s possible.”

Finding community

Before coming to Emory, Boon earned a BS in psychology at Coastal Carolina University, where she was also a member of the track and field team. When she joined the Emory team as a graduate student in 2023, she made fast friends.

“It’s impacted my Emory experience in such a positive way,” Boon says. “I was the only heptathlon athlete on the team, so I thought I was going to be secluded. But everyone has been so kind and supportive.”

Teammate Eva Carchidi, a graduate student in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing from New Hampshire, has enjoyed training with Boon.

“She makes things really fun,” says Carchidi, winner of the 2025 NCAA Division III 400-meter dash. “She’s a very natural leader, and she leads by example.”

The members of the track and field team, Fritsche says, “have their own community because they have a unique experience at Emory.”

“Student athletes are such a vital piece of the university,” she adds. “They have a motivation and drive that carries into everything they do. They’re some of the most involved people on campus.”

Sometimes that sense of community can come in the form of commiseration. The team refers to a much-dreaded weekly practice as “Tempo Tuesday.” Carchidi notes these are “notoriously grueling workouts” that involve sprints and repetitions of each individual’s competitive events.

While training for the decathlon, Boon had the most events — meaning she had the longest workout. A joke soon emerged from the side of the track as Boon’s teammates watched her finish her sprints.

“We see the list of workouts and we’re all complaining a little bit,” Carchidi says. “But then you see Nikki training and think, ‘Well, my list really isn’t that bad.’

“So, we started saying, ‘Your workout could always be worse, just look at Nikki’s.’”

Even in the summer, Boon hits the track around 7 a.m. to train and beat the heat. On those calm mornings, the campus is quiet and mostly empty. Sometimes the facilities team is maintaining the nearby soccer field, and she enjoys running to the gentle sound of machinery in the distance.

Fritsche believes Boon’s commitment and focus is what makes her such a strong competitor.

“When she steps on the track, she’s a gamer,” Fritsche says. “She’s one of the most reliable people I’ve worked with. No matter what she’s doing, you know she’s going to give it everything she has.”