SAINT-DENIS, France — Alex Sedrick scored a long try as time expired and then hit a bronze-clinching conversion to give the U.S. a miraculous 14-12 victory over Australia on Tuesday.
The result earned the U.S. women's rugby sevens team its first Olympic medal.
Maddison Levi's try with about 85 seconds left gave Australia a 12-7 lead that appeared to have won it for the 2016 gold medalists. It seemed insignificant at the time that Tia Hinds missed the conversion, but that turned out to be a crucial play as Sedrick broke through a crowd for her long score in the final seconds.
"One minute for the rest of her life, that's a life-changing moment for all of us and for rugby in America," said overjoyed prop Kristi Kirshe, a native of Franklin, Massachusetts. "And thank God, [Sedrick] took off the way she did."
As time ticked away, U.S. star Ilona Maher was brought down before teammate Ariana Ramsey took the ball and offloaded it to Sedrick.
Sedrick, a Salt Lake City native, ran through one arm tackle and bowled over another Australian to suddenly get into wide-open space. She took it the house, about 90 yards down the field, triggering a wild U.S. celebration on the sidelines.
Sedrick said the team's psychologist preaches to players to remain focused at all times and even accept self-doubt.
“So it’s OK to be nervous, it’s OK to be scared, it’s OK to doubt yourself," she said. "But as long as the next action you take is toward your goal, it’s going work out."
The team's regular kicker wasn't on the field when Sedrick scored, so she stepped up for the not-so-routine kick and knocked it through the uprights.
The Americans had a tall hill to climb to capture a medal coming into Tuesday, first losing to defending champion New Zealand. A victory over Australia, beaten by silver medalist Canada in the other semifinal match, seemed unlikely.
Hinds and center Alev Kelter, a native of Eagle River, Alaska, each scored tries, and the teams were tied 7-7 at intermission in a match attended by new superfan Flavor Flav.
Australia dominated the second half, with nearly all play deep in the U.S. end.
Yet the Americans surrendered just that one late try from Levi, opening the door for Sedrick's history-making score.
"We're starting to build a culture, building people that we want to be, leaving a legacy and building a brand of rugby in America that we can proud of," said wing Stephanie Rovetti, 32, a native of Reno, Nevada.
Rovetti was behind the play and could see Levi chasing Sedrick, known as "Spiff" to her teammates, as she raced nearly the length of the Stade de France field to bring home bronze.
"You have Maddie Levi, the fastest player in the series, who's notorious for catching tries like that," Rovetti said. "But Spiff is such a great player, and I knew that she was through and she could beat anybody."
