SAINT-DENIS, France — Former BYU women’s basketball player Stephanie Rovetti won a bronze medal on Tuesday as the USA Women’s Rugby Sevens team beat Australia 14-12 in the bronze medal game at Stade de France.
With the win over Australia, Rovetti became the fourth BYU female athlete to medal in an Olympic Games joining Christy Opara Thompson (Nigeria, Track & Field - 4x100 Relay, 1984), Lelei Fonoimoana-Moore (USA, 4x100 Medley Relay – Swimming, 1976) and Shauna Rohbock (USA, 2-Woman Bobsled, 2006).
She also earned the first medal for any BYU athlete since Taylor Sander earned a bronze medal in men’s volleyball at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
After falling to the eventual gold medalists New Zealand in the semifinal, the USA Women’s Eagles faced Australia, the 2016 gold medalists for the bronze.
With the USA down 12-7 in the final seconds of the game, Rovetti secured possession for the United States, giving the Eagles a fighting chance to tie or take the lead.
Once possession was secured, the ball found the hands of Alex Sedrick of Herriman, Utah, who scored a length-of-the-field try with the clock expiring and completed the conversion to earn USA Rugby its first Olympic medal since women’s rugby was introduced in 2016 at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
