Nicol born in Battersea was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Nicol won his preliminary heat in the 400 metres with a time of 50.8 seconds.

This qualified him to compete in the semifinals, where he placed third in his heat to be eliminated.

[1] Four years later at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, he won his 400 metres heat before being eliminated in the semifinals.

However, he was part of the team with Ernest Henley, Cyril Seedhouse and James Soutter that won the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay.

[3][4][5] This article about an Olympic medallist in athletics of the United Kingdom is a stub.