By Bryan Bastible
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas — Former Olympian Nikki Kubes had her eye on a medal in Greece, but she ended up getting a different kind of hardware: a Fort Worth police badge.
In 2004, Kubes, then 17, competed in judo in the Athens Games. The Southwest High School graduate won her first match in eight seconds but lost her other two matches, according to the Star-Telegram archives.
“This is a steppingstone but definitely a good experience,” she said at the time.
Determined, she vowed to return to the Olympics but was permanently sidelined after a serious knee injury.
“It’ll never be taken away from me,” Kubes, now 29, told NBC5 of her Olympics experience.
Besides being an Olympian, she had another goal: putting on a badge.
“I always knew since I was a little girl I wanted to be in law enforcement,” she told the station.
Following in her father’s footsteps, she chose law enforcement because she likes helping people.
But she’ll never forget her time representing her country.
“I’m so thankful for my past,” she told the station. “I’ll always have that. But now I get to go after a new goal, and that’s to be the best police officer I can and do the best for my community that I can.”
Last year, she encouraged others to follow their dreams as part of the Play Like A Girl campaign.
“Growing up, it wasn’t about the fancy dresses or the cool car or the high school dance,” she said in a YouTube video for the campaign. “It was about winning and being in the Olympics someday.”
She goes on to say judo gave her confidence and strength to achieve her dreams.
“No matter your age, your size, your problems -- whoever you are, you can do it,” she said. "... Dream big; your dreams can come true.”