Nancy Thies Marshall: U of I helped me transition from the Olympics to my professional career

Making the flip from Olympian to college student was a new journey for Nancy Thies Marshall. After competing as an Olympic gymnast in 1972 at age 15, Nancy returned home to Urbana, Illinois, and continued as a member of the U.S. national team until her graduation from Urbana High School in 1975. Instead of postponing college to train for the 1976 Olympics, however, she enrolled at the University of Illinois and helped to build the newly created women’s gymnastics program.

Having grown up near campus, Nancy felt a deep connection to the U of I. With most of her family, including her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles attending Illinois, it seemed natural to follow suit. “Orange and blue ran through my veins,” she said.

Nancy treasures her experience as the first female Olympian contributing to the early chapters of U of I’s women’s team program. She was named U of I’s first ever Female Athlete of the Year in 1977, in addition to winning nine Big Ten titles, seven regional titles, earning All-America status on the uneven bars, and being named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 1976 and 1977.

During her time as an LAS student, she was contacted by NBC Sports to join their broadcast team to cover Olympic and Olympic-related events, which she did until 1984. She retired from competition after her sophomore year and transitioned to part-time network sports analyst while remaining a full-time student. She graduated in 1979 with an individual plan of study degree titled “The History of Journalism in Sports.”

The degree provided her a mix of hands-on and academic experience that proved very beneficial for the first step of her professional career.

“Illinois was such a great launching point. I had somewhat of an all-consuming identity of being an elite gymnast, living in a petri dish where a lot of people knew who I was and followed my career,” Nancy said. “Yet, at Illinois I found strong supportive mentors who guided me through that transition from being an athlete to covering athletes at NBC Sports. I appreciated being able to grow professionally within a learning environment.”

After graduation, Nancy married Charlie Marshall and worked in broadcast television for seven years. She took a break when their three children where young but eventually returned to her professional career, quickly discovering that she felt more comfortable behind the scenes than in front of cameras. She worked as a free-lance journalist, authoring two books as well as magazine and newspaper articles. In 1992, Nancy began helping USA Gymnastics to create an athlete wellness program. “Ironically, it was the first in the country and we were doing all kinds of very innovative things,” she explained.

She was a representative on the USA Gymnastics Athlete’s Advisory Council, which led to elected positions on the executive committee. Nancy ultimately served as the board of directors vice-chair for women.

This experience revealed to her how much she loved developing programs and working with people. She shifted toward consulting with nonprofits, which led to a career in human resources and workforce development. She worked for 20 years in her adopted hometown of Salem, Oregon, including working as the associate vice president for people and culture at Corban University. Recently retired, she still works as a part-time consultant—when not on adventures with her husband and four granddaughters.

Nancy said that her U of I education was significant throughout her career. Many of her favorite and most
impactful courses were in rhetoric and journalism, which taught her how to communicate well.

“I was tapped by NBC Sports because I had ‘Olympian’ beside my name, but what continued to open doors for me was the academic and real-life training the U of I provided,” Nancy said.

She has returned to the U of I to offer her time and expertise, including serving as a resident instructor with the Allen Hall Unit One program, where she led discussions and programs related to the Olympics, sports, women in the workplace, and more. In 2017, Nancy was inducted into the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame. 

“The U of I is a part of who I am,” she said. “The combination of Urbana being my hometown  and my desire to help write a new chapter for women’s athletes at a school I loved made the choice to attend the U of I an easy one.”

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the Fall 2022 issue of The Quadrangle.