As of Friday (July 5), the woman whose 20 years in a leadership role at UK Sport – the final nine of them as chief executive – were marked by a seismic improvement in Britain's Olympic performances is now a free agent.

So it would have been nice to think that Nicholl, now 66, would be able to relax and enjoy watching the sport in which she represented Wales in two World Cups as this year's edition gets underway in Liverpool on Friday (June 12).

Nice also to think of her then announcing that she was simply going to chill, take the weight off and get stuck into some white wine.

But no. She is already scoping out the possibility that may soon occur for her to put a marker down on the sport closest to her heart in the form of the Presidency of the International Netball Federation (INF).

Nicholl announced her intention to stand for the position of President of the INF at start of May, having said in January that she would be leaving UK Sport.

She was nominated by England Netball, where she had been chief executive for 16 years before taking up the role for which she is best known.

On March 26, England Netball, in partnership with UK Sport, officially opened a "Netball Heritage Archive" at the University of Huddersfield's Heritage Quay.

The Archive, which traces the birth of netball back to 1897, formed part of the Netball Heritage Project launched by England Netball during its 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.

A special event was held to mark its opening, attended by officials including Nicholl, England Netball chief executive Joanna Adams and Tim Thornton, who is both deputy vice chancellor at the university and a professor of history.

"Netball has grown massively and been thrust into the limelight, especially over the last 12 months since the England team won the Commonwealth Games for the first time in history," Adams said.

"It is wonderful to now be able to look back on how it all began thanks to this archive, and to see how netball got to where it is today.

"I hope others enjoy sharing in the history of this sport as much as I do."

England are currently focusing hard on enhancing that history still further as they seek to challenge the World Cup holders Australia once again in Liverpool.

The election for the INF Presidency will take place on Wednesday (June 10) – two days before that effort gets underway – with the current INF President Molly Rhone due to step down after the Netball World Cup has finished.

Back in May, Nicholl was the only candidate.

Since then, another name has been thrown into the hat in the form of Dr Patricia Butcher from Trinidad and Tobago, who has been on the INF Board since 2015 and represents the Americas and Caribbean.

On the subject of running for President, Nicholl told insidethegames: "I joined UK Sport in 1999, four years after the 1995 Netball World Cup. 

"I stepped down from my role as CEO on Friday, July 5 and in planning my 'retirement' I was drawn back to the sport that gave me the opportunity to grow in confidence as a leader.

"I am now England Netball's nominee for the position as President of the International Netball Federation. The election will take place next Wednesday at the INF Congress in Liverpool. I will be delighted if I am elected but I respect the fact that this is a contested election and the other candidate has much to offer.

"I truly believe that sport has an amazing power to make a positive difference in society. Netball is a sport that is accessible to all but its uniqueness is set in its roots, and its very special appeal to women and girls.

"If I were to be elected, I would nurture the spirit of friendship that is at the heart of the sport and commit to excellence in everything we do. I would also help INF focus on four pillars.

"Engaging – making the sport even more accessible and enjoyable to participants, fans and stakeholders.

"Enabling – developing the capacity of member national associations.

"Empowering – inspiring women and girls to grow their confidence and capability through netball.

"Excelling – providing pathways and competition structures for individuals and teams to flourish."

And how soon will it be, one wonders, before netball finds its place in the Olympic programme?

"Many sports and athletes have an ambition to be included in the Olympic Games programme as it's such a very special multi-sport event with an incredible platform to showcase the sport with a worldwide reach," Nicholl responded.

"That can then open up access to more resources to grow the sport. Netball currently has very limited financial resources in most of its regions but it has an amazing and hugely committed volunteer workforce.

"The growth of the sport could be significantly enhanced if it were to be included in the Games. The International Olympic Committee decision-making is, however, beyond the control of any one sport.

"What the INF can do is remain close to the decision-makers, very aware of the criteria that inform those decisions and embed those factors that are good for netball into its own plans for development to strengthen its case."

In a 2014 profile written for the Independent on Sunday, my insidethegames colleague Alan Hubbard described Nicholl as "the most powerful woman" in British sport.

Britain finished 36th in the medal table at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where rowers Steve Redgrave and Matt Pinsent provided the only gold in the men's pair.

Enter National Lottery funding, directed by the wise heads at UK Sport, and – lo – there came successive improvements. At the Rio 2016 Games, Britain finished second in the medals table and made history as the first country to increase its medal count at both the Olympics and the Paralympics immediately after hosting the Games.

But the downside for Nicholl has been that UK Sport's "all or nothing" funding system has faced criticism due to its focus on medal count and budget cuts in sports that perform poorly. It is a position she has steadfastly defended.

In November 2017 the International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence said: "It's not for me to suggest how they do it, but all I would say is that athlete welfare has to be their number one concern.

"I think at the moment that medal success comes over athlete welfare and I'm not sure that's right."

Asked to cite what has given her most, and least, satisfaction in her UK Sport role, Nicholl replied: "Most satisfaction that we have built a system that is committed to working together, sharing insights and problem solving to turn challenges into opportunities to be even stronger. 

"That by working together, so many sports have enabled so many athletes to achieve their dream of medal success. 

"The results over successive Olympic and Paralympic Games speak for themselves."

And the least satisfaction?

"The period in 2016 and 2017 when some unacceptable behaviour was exposed in a sport and cast a shadow over the whole system," she responded. "It came as a shock to us all but it was right that the athlete voice was heard and it was right that we commissioned an independent review.

"The experience gained from that was turned into an opportunity to develop a culture-specific staff and athlete survey to be conducted annually. This is providing invaluable insights and draws out areas of concern. Alongside this, more robust policies and processes are in place to ensure appropriate issue management."

That sport was cycling, and the athlete voice belonged to London 2012 Olympian Jess Varnish, who claimed she had been discriminated against and ill-treated in the wake of being dropped from the British squad before Rio 2016.

The organisation's then technical director, Shane Sutton, who was said to have told Varnish to "go have a baby" when her sprinter contract was not renewed, subsequently resigned.

A review into the culture of British Cycling's world-class performance programme concluded in June 2017 that some athletes had complained of a "lack of encouragement or support", while staff members referred to a "culture of fear in the organisation".

Led by Annamarie Phelps, the chairman of British Rowing and vice-chair of the British Olympic Association, the review of British Cycling was launched in April 2016 to look at any lessons the National Federation could learn.

A British Cycling investigation had concluded that Sutton had used "inappropriate and discriminatory language" towards sprinter Varnish, but another eight claims were dismissed.

All was not well in several other British sports at the time. There had been reports that a senior coach in the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association had been accused of racism.

Other sports had also been at the centre of allegations, including swimming.

In a blog written for insidethegames, Nicholl said: "While the issues that have been exposed in some sports over recent months are very concerning, they are being addressed.

"We must not forget that there are over a thousand athletes in our system being supported by over a thousand leaders, coaches and technical staff and a huge percentage of those are operating with unquestionable integrity and working above and beyond what would be expected in other work places to help athletes deliver success to make themselves, their families and the nation proud.

"I am confident that the actions we are committing to will drive the necessary changes and will create a more positive environment, more widely, to enable athletes and staff to perform at their very best."

She added: "Commissioning the review was a new challenge but an experienced independent panel, chaired by Annamarie Phelps, did an exceptional job."

So as she turns her attention back to her own core sport, what memories does Nicholl have of the last Netball World Cup to have been held in England – the 1995 edition hosted by Birmingham, for which she was director? And how does it compare with the impending edition?

"It's 24 years since I was director for the 1995 Netball World Cup in Birmingham," she responded. "I was appointed to the role alongside my responsibility as CEO of England Netball. It was possible to do that then but event delivery is far more complex these days.

"The number of countries playing the sport has increased over the years so that while in 1995 it was an open 27-team entry, there is a now a 16-team entry with pre-qualifiers.

"While the fundamentals of the competition management remain similar, the demands around the event are far greater. The athlete experience has always been a high priority but this is now set alongside worldwide media interest, much higher expectations of fans and and spectators (and there are many more of them too) and a strong and better resourced drive from the sport to capture the interest and convert it into increasing participation.

"On the field of play I think we can all see that over recent years the speed of the game and the athleticism and professionalism of athletes has increased enormously. Some of this is due to the emergence of a number of national super leagues and also athlete movement around the world.

"The impact can be seen in the increase in the number of countries competing at a standard where they are realistically in with a chance of winning a medal. So many big matches these days seem to be won by one goal scored in the last few seconds. It has been fascinating to watch the progress."

Since the Netball World Cup was first held in Eastbourne in 1963, Australia have won the title 11 out of 14 times – including a three-way share with New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago in 1979.

New Zealand, in 1967, 1987 and 2003, have been the only team to deny them. Up to now…