Gwen is an imposing figure naturally-- 6'2" and very muscular. She does a lot of bodybuilding and working out, but when you look at her you can tell she'd be strong even if she didn't. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and is tan. She prefers to dress in athletic clothes like cut-off sweats or jeans and tank tops, or warm-up outfits/sweats if it's chilly out. Her family is from Long Beach, California.
Gwen was born November 28, 1984-- the year the Summer Olympics came to Los Angeles. She has 3 older brothers: Peter, or Pete, is the oldest and currently plays for the San Diego Chargers. Richard, or Richie, plays on the UCLA football team, and Nick-- who's only a year older than Gwen-- also plays on the UCLA football team. Their father, Lars Nielsson, is the famous track and field coach for the high school. He's lead their team to more state victories than any other track and field coach in all of California. Their mother, Martha Nielsson, is a housewife.
Gwen decided to go to the neighboring high school instead of her regular high school because she took her track and field career very seriously and didn't want anyone to think she'd made it on the team just because her father was the coach. Her father-- a hot-tempered man-- was furious with her for "ruining his chances at another state championship" and "turning traitor." Nick was just as furious because he's the type of guy who has to be the best at everything and that means his school has to be the best, and he knew the other high school would win track and field if Gwen went there. Richie was also angry with Gwen, agreeing with their father that she was being a "traitor" and trying to "undermine Dad." Only Pete agreed with Gwen's choice. He remembered the rumors that he'd only made it on the high school football team when he was in high school because his father had "pulled some strings," and that he'd only gotten his football scholarship for the same reason. He'd proven everyone wrong by being selected first draft for the NFL.
Gwen did enroll at the other high school with special permission from the principal, so her father had kicked her out of the house and Pete had let her move in with him. She did lead her new high school to a state victory-- ruining her father's winning-streak and earning his hatred-- and her mother stood by her husband docily, never coming to her only daughter's defense. But Gwen didn't let this deter her from her dreams to be selected to be on the Womens US Olympic Athletics team. After she broke all the high school state records for shot put, discus and javelin, and getting a full-ride scholarship in track and field to UCLA, she was invited to try out for the Olympic team for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece and won a place on the team.
The Olympics happened in 2004-- the summer after her first year at UCLA. She'd hoped that accepting UCLA's scholarship would have won her favor back with her two brothers who were also going there-- Nick and Richie-- but they were loyal to their dad and kept their silent treatment going.
Gwen got many endorsements with companies like Nike to do ads and commercials, and soon her name was a household name. Her events at the Olympics were highly-anticipated by the public-- it was predicted that she'd break the world records, and she didn't disappoint. She got gold medals in all three events and shattered the world records.
The night after her victory, she fell into a bit of a depression because only Pete had come to Greece to watch her compete out of her whole family. She'd rented a car and went driving through the Greek countryside, taking in the air and looking up at moon and stars from time to time. Then the engine had died, or maybe the battery was dead. Stupid cheap little Greek cars! She'd pulled over and gotten out to look under the hood when a car approached from the other direction. It stopped and about 5 big guys got out and started speaking German to her-- thinking she was German because of her looks. She'd looked at them and explained that she couldn't speak German and was American. Then one of the guys recognized her and told the others who she was excitedly. The guys were on the German swimming team and heard about her victory.
Gwen asked for help with the car-- it looked unfamiliar under the hood. One guy said he could help. She leaned over to point out the battery, and suddenly he slid behind her and pressed himself against her. She ordered him to get away, and when he just laughed she could smell the alcohol on his breath. He squeezed her tighter and she broke his hold by flexing her arms as hard as she could. He looked surprised, and then laughed and said something in German to his buddies and lunged at her again. She struggled and then saw his friends forming around her. She realized what was about to happen and had both a panic-reaction, because she's a virgin, and also a rage-reaction.
The rage filled her like red lava and all she could see was red. It was like time slowed to a crawl, and she went outside of herself. She felt a liquid power charge her muscles like she'd never felt before. Suddenly she let out a shriek and the guy holding her screamed and flew backwards off of her and lay twitching on the ground like he'd been electrocuted. At that moment Gwen's rental car roared back to life-- the drained battery suddenly recharged.
But nothing could quell Gwen's rage. Her fist flew forward and she punched one guy so hard that his jaw snapped and he flew back about 20 feet. The next closest guy she saw she reached down and crushed his scrotum and penis before lifting and throwing him. The last two guys started screaming when they looked at her and saw what she'd done, so she concentrated, flung her arm out towards them, and both guys were flung through the air to land with sickening crunches-- her hand never having come into contact with either of them.
Gwen stood there breathing hard, basking in the afterglow of the rage and adrenaline. After a few minutes she realized where she was and what had happened and she quickly got in her car and drove of into the night.
She was too scared to go to the athlete-housing-complex where she shared a room with another US athlete, so she drove around all night, and eventually pulled into the hotel where Pete was staying. Too scared to enter the hotel, she fell asleep in her car in the parking lot. She was awakened later that morning by hotel security standing beside the car with her brother. She lied to them and said she'd lost her housing key and didn't want to disturb her brother, and they bought her story. But that afternoon the real story came out when the German swimmers were found and one was conscious long enough to tell the police what happened. Luckily for Gwen none of the men died, and because their blood-alcohol tested high no charges were pressed by the German coach-- the men had already been in a scandal involving the rapes of some young women back in Germany, and the coach felt the men deserved their punishments and wanted the whole incident swept under the rug.
Unfortunately, now everyone knew that Gwen was what's now called a "nova," so the Olympic Committee-- unable to prove that Gwen didn't use her superpowers to win her medals-- had to vote to strip her of her medals and erase her record-breaking throws from history. She also lost her scholarship to UCLA when her department felt pressured to bump a nova from the team.
Angry and abandoned, Gwen lived with her brother for a few months. She watched the insane drama that even swept him up-- doctors testing him to see if he was a "super-freak," too, and then finally admitting that he was normal. Gwen-- not wanting to burden him and his girlfriend anymore-- moved into her own apartment and eventually got a job as a security guard for the Charger Stadium, thanks to Pete. Gwen has a large bank account from all the endorsement-money she earned before she "erupted," and has been keeping a low profile, wanting the world to just forget about her...wanting some direction...and some answers...
