Samuels received the NZOC nomination as the third Kiwi female triathlete, along with Andrea Hewitt and Kate McIlroy, after the Sydney ITU race. But because she missed out on a top eight finish there, she had to travel halfway around the world to confirm her place by helping put New Zealand among the top eight nations - who are each allowed three starters at London.
"I am very happy to be going to the Olympics - excited for my parents too because they get the excuse they needed for their much awaited OE and get to see the race," she said.
Gary and Shirley Samuels have had more than Olympic qualification to worry about, with concerns of heart surgery over the year to try to manage Nicky's arrhythmia; it was appendicitis that almost derailed her dream.
"My appendix flared up just before Oceania Championships, I took antibiotics and it went away. Then a month later, actually on the night of the Olympic selection announcement in Auckland, it came back but was more severe and localised," she said.
Her return to Wanaka, where she now lives, was followed by a hurried trip to Dunedin for the operation. After three nights in hospital and a week recovering followed by a short, tentative build up, she was back on a plane heading for the ITU race in San Diego.
"My goal was to finish top 40 and I scraped in at 39th picking up a few measly points but ones that could have been crucial if I raced poorly last week in Madrid," she said.
Then Samuels flew to France and did enough training to finish 15th and seal her spot last weekend.
"Despite losing a fair few weeks of training I got what was important. I also got the safety knowing my appendix is out now and not going to get in the way of the Olympics, it is a bit of a ticking time bomb and so to have it out of the equation now is the ideal result," she said.
Samuels has already begun building up for the Olympics at altitude at Font Romeu in Southern France and will be based there for six weeks, except for brief forays away for racing.
"I am lucky enough for my coach (Mark Elliott) to be here for the first 12 days so we have a strong focus on technique at the moment," she said.
After that she joins the Triathlon New Zealand team at sea level at Sete for 10 days for her final race in Hamburg, before moving to Oxford for her final build up and taper.
Barring further medical misadventure, Samuels will be a force to be reckoned with when the Olympic race starts on August 4.
