Maddison Levi: Australia's Rugby Sevens Sensation Aims for Olympic Gold

Maddison Levi, an outstanding 22-year-old rugby sevens player from Queensland, is poised to lead Australia to another Olympic gold medal in Paris. Levi has been a force since the Tokyo Games, breaking try-scoring records and propelling her team to victory. With her indomitable spirit and supportive teammates, Levi remains a beacon of inspiration for young fans.

If Australia grabs another Olympic gold medal in rugby sevens at Paris, the highlights reel may well be dominated by Maddison Levi burning off defenders on her way to the try-line.

The 22-year-old Queenslander has been a juggernaut since the Tokyo Games, tearing up try-scoring records in the SVNS world series to help Australia return to the peak of the game. She scored a hat-trick in Madrid last Sunday against Olympic hosts France in the global circuit's inaugural 'Grand Final' to finish the season with an incredible 69 tries.

The tally destroyed her previous women's record of 57 from the 2022/23 season and came despite being suspended for a slew of matches for high tackles. Rival coaches will be furiously plotting how to shut her down at Paris where Australia will be among the strongest contenders.

Levi says they are welcome to try. "With pressure I think we perform a lot better," she told reporters in Sydney. "I feel like they'll definitely be looking to shut me down but that's the beauty of having that team around me.

"If I'm not scoring tries there's four other girls on the other edges that do such an amazing job. If I can set up or help them score, then that's my job done." Professional women's sport has developed rapidly in Australia in recent years, giving elite female athletes unprecedented choice.

Courted by several sports, Levi played a season of top flight Australian Rules football in 2021 for the Gold Coast Suns before committing to the national rugby sevens programme. She was a surprise pick for the Tokyo Olympics squad at the age of 19 but Australia's title defence ended in the quarter-finals.

Levi and her talented kid sister Teagan were instrumental in the team's rebound in the following year to Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham and the rugby sevens World Cup title. The national women's soccer team, the Matildas, are dubbed "Australia's favourite sporting team" -- and may be deserving of the tag following the huge swell in support triggered by their run to the Women's World Cup semi-finals on home soil.

But another Olympic gold would put the sevens women on a similar plain. The Levi sisters and their team mates certainly work hard for their success, on and off the field.

After a 30-hour flight home from the SVNS title-decider in Madrid, the squad were straight back in the gym doing a weights session. The work ethic is driven by head coach Tim Walsh but willingly taken on by the players, said Levi.

It helps that the players are like family. "I'm not going to lie and say we don't fight – because we're all sisters," she said.

"We ride through the highs and lows. We train – we call it 'through the darkness'. I think that just shows the commitment we have to the overall goal of winning an Olympics." For all of Levi's steely words, the Gold Coast native is relentlessly cheerful in public and betrays a soft spot for young fans.

She said being a role model often brought a tear to her eye as she recalled an exchange with a little girl in Hong Kong. "I gave her my boots and she bawled her eyes out," she said.

"To be that figure for a new generation is truly inspirational for me. But that's why I play."

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