For some Crimson athletes, competing internationally does not necessarily mean donning the American Stars and Stripes. While many Harvard athletes who compete at the international level end up representing the United States, there are others who compete for other countries as well.

Among those is Harvard thrower Nikki Okwelogu, who has had a breakout season for the Crimson this year in collegiate competition. Coming into the season, Okwelogu’s best throw in the shot put was 16.09 meters, good enough for a school record.

This year, the sophomore has shattered the Ivy League shot put record several times, most recently at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, where she recorded a throw of 17.22 meters.

But even prior to her collegiate success, the national track and field team of Nigeria, a country in which Okwelogu holds dual citizenship, had been keeping the Fresno, Calif., native’s talent on its radar.

“My mom sort of just ran into a guy wearing a Nigerian track t-shirt at one of my track meets in high school,” Okwelogu said. “They were originally interested in my older sister, but I caught their attention and made the team later on during my senior year of high school.”

Despite being a member of her country’s team since her senior year of high school, Okwelogu’s first experience competing for Nigeria came this past summer at the Nigerian National Championships, where she won the title in the shot put.

“It was a bit of a culture shock for me,” the sophomore said. “I grew up around Nigerian people—my whole family is Nigerian—but going there and being immersed in the culture was totally different.”

Thanks to Okwelogu’s newfound international career, this past year was the first time that the sophomore had ever constantly trained year-round. Despite being a grueling process, her efforts have paid massive dividends for the Harvard team so far, as evidenced by her performances throughout the season.

While competing for Nigeria at competitions like the Commonwealth Games and the World Junior Championships in the same year has proved a fruitful experience for Okwelogu, the sophomore also described a difficulty in balancing Harvard athletics and international competition.

“It is difficult sometimes now to come back to Harvard and find the same adrenaline,” Okwelogu said. “I’ve been to those meets where your heart is beating out of your chest, and you can’t even breathe. It’s hard to replicate that same environment at Harvard.”

However, Okwelogu’s confidence is at an all-time high when returning to Ivy League contests.

“When I walk in, I say, ‘I own this place,’” Okwelogu said. “I have to act like I own this place, and I have to show everyone that I own this place. It’s a different mentality.”

The Olympics are surely in the back of Okwelogu’s mind as the thrower has said that one of her biggest goals now is to qualify for the summer games in 2016. The sophomore has even gotten a taste of Olympic competition already at the Commonwealth Games, where she ran into a well-known thrower—two-time gold medalist Valerie Adams of New Zealand.

“No one can even remember the last time Valerie Adams lost in competition,” Okwelogu said. “Just standing next to her, she was so tall and intimidating. It was different to walk into a stadium with 40,000 seats filled watching Valerie Adams and realizing that I had to throw too.”

While the challenge ahead of her might be daunting, the sophomore still has two years of collegiate play and an international career ahead of her.