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Nicko Salem runner-up in middleweight class
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Posted on Jul 19 2022
Nicko Salem poses with his daughter Nicole after the former won a silver medal in the middleweight division of the 2022 NewBreed Summer Championship in Raleigh North Carolina last July 9. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Nicko Salem made a good example for his daughter and won a silver medal for it.
The Saipan Southern High School alumnus and former San Antonio, Saipan resident entered in the 2022 NewBreed Summer Championship in Raleigh North Carolina last July 9 and won a silver medal.
“I got second place for that division. I fought in the middleweight class 170-180 lbs and I had two opponents—one from the U.S. and the other from Spain,” the U.S. Marine said.
To take part in the 2022 NewBreed Summer Championship, Salem said he trained two hours a day, four times a week before the competition.
Salem said even though he didn’t win gold it still felt great competing because he was trying to set an example for her daughter, Nickole.
“I never want her to feel alone and if she’s going to do this for a while she’s gonna need a little encouragement. This was my way of showing her that I will never let her do anything I wouldn’t do myself. If I’m going to tell her to be the best version of herself, I’ll have to do the same,” he said.
And Nickole did more than what her father did as the Lambs Elementary School in North Charleston student won two gold medals in the 5-year-old division in the Gi and No-Gi.
“I am extremely proud of her,” said the elder Salem.
Nickole Salem’s mother is Maria Victoria, who is originally from Garapan, Saipan.
Nicko graduated from SSHS in 2012 and worked for the Pacific Islands Club Saipan before choosing a career in the U.S. Marine Corps.
In 2014, he became the first recruit from Saipan to earn the coveted company honor graduate for Company M after completing his boot camp training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California.
The Salem family last visited Saipan in Christmas of 2017, which also happened to be the first time Nickole met her paternal grandfather, Ricardo Salem.
