The American women looked to play spoilers against Australia and its fast-paced offense in the bronze medal match. The U.S. women entered the match guaranteed to have their best finish at an Olympic rugby tournament, after finishing sixth in Tokyo and fifth in Rio. They punctuated the opportunity with a last-second upset and a 14-12 win over Australia to claim the bronze medal.
The Americans won the match on the very last play when Alex Sedrick stiffed arm her way past Australia's defense and sprinted her way down the majority of the field and placed the ball down in the center of the try for the game-tying score. Under the greatest pressure, she converted her own kick for the Americans to seal the win for the Americans.
After the match, Ilona Maher was still trying to process what just happened. “I hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m so tired but I’m so excited. I don’t think it will sink in until we get up with those medals. We worked really hard. We wanted this medal, not for ourselves but for our families. It was such a hard few years, but we did it.”
Early in the first, Maddison Levi continued her tournament tear and scored her 13th try of the Paris Games to give Australia the 7-0 lead. The 13 tries are the most scored in a single Olympic Games. Ilona Maher led the Americans on a nice run midway through the first, but the U.S. squad was slowed as they neared the try. The Americans were in the midst of executing a textbook phase play when Teagan Levi was carded for a high tackle.
On the man advantage, the Americans had several scoring chances. The best chance came from a near try by Kayla Canett, but Faith Nathan tackled her into touch to save the try. On the restart, Canett made up for the missed try with a powerful tackle in the try zone to win the ball back for the United States. On the ensuing scrum, three-time Olympian Alev Kelter powered her way through Australia to the try zone. She converted her own try to even the score at 7 and that’s how the two teams went into the half.
Australia threated in the beginning of the second half with a dangerous run by Maddison Levi, but Sariah Paki knocked the ball on receiving a pass in the try.
The Americans defense slowed the potent Australia offense most of the second half. Despite the defensive masterclass, a scrum penalty turned the ball over to Australia with less than 90 seconds to play and the Levi sisters capitalized to give Australia the lead when Maddison crossed the try line for her 14th try of the tournament.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Australians made a gutsy call to kick the ball deep off the kickoff. Ariana Ramsey set Sedrick up to receive the ball deep in the American territory and the Olympic newcomer did the rest, she stiff armed Teagan Levi to the ground and ran the entire length of the field to tie the match. She converted her own try from underneath the post to give the Americans the 14-12 win in the bronze medal match.
The Americans pulled off the improbable comeback for the first medal of any kind in men's or women's rugby sevens. It is also the first medal in rugby (15s or 7s) for the U.S. since 1924 when the men won gold. With the win, head coach Emilie Bydwell became the first female rugby head coach to lead a team to a medal of any kind.
As Olympic rugby turns to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles Maher hopes the win will help propel American rugby forward. “I hope it means we get more games in stadiums like this, that we get more money and funding for the women’s game. We deserve it. We need more girls in the US trying rugby and seeing what it can do for them.”