Wikipedia

Maddison Levi

Maddison Levi (born 27 April 2002) is a current player for the Australian women's sevens team. She is a former Australian rules footballer, having played for the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). She is a two-time Olympian and the fastest Australian woman to score 100 tries on the World Sevens Series, having reached the milestone in just 15 events.

Maddison Levi
Full nameMaddison Levi
Date of birth (2002-04-27) 27 April 2002 (age 22)
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb; 10 st 8 lb)
SchoolMiami State High School
Rugby union career
Youth career
–2019 Miami State High School
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
2021– Australia 5
Australian rules football career
Personal information
Original team(s) Bond University (QAFLW)
Draft No. 50, 2020 AFL Women's draft
Position(s) Forward / Midfielder
Club information
Current club Gold Coast
Number 6
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2021 Gold Coast 8 (3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2023 season.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com
Medal record
Women's rugby sevens
Representing  Australia
Rugby Sevens World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cape Town Team competition
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team competition

Early life

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Levi grew up on the Gold Coast and attended Miami State High School throughout her upbringing where she was a member of their Rugby Sevens Excellence Program.[1] An accomplished junior rugby player, she represented Queensland as well as Australia in junior competitions[2] and was named player of the tournament in the under-17 Youth Rugby Sevens National Championships.[3] In 2018 Levi was asked to play Australian rules football for the first time with Miami High's AFLQ Schools Cup team and went on to play a pivotal role in the school's state championship win that year.[4]

In 2019 she signed up to play club football for the first time with the Burleigh Bombettes and was placed in the Gold Coast Suns' developmental academy.[5] Just months later, Levi was selected to represent Queensland as a bottom ager in the AFL Women's Under 18 National Championships.[6] In 2020 she turned down a contract with Rugby Australia to pursue an AFLW career and switched clubs to play for Bond University in the top level QAFLW competition.[7] Levi cemented her spot in Bond University's senior team in 2020 and was named in the bests multiple times throughout the QAFLW season.[8] As a result of her 2020 performances, she was invited to take part in the AFLW Draft Combine, where she broke multiple national records including the 20-metre sprint and vertical jump.[9]

AFLW career

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Levi was drafted to her hometown team, the Gold Coast Suns, with pick 50 in the 2020 AFL Women's draft.[10] She made her AFLW debut for the Suns in Round 1 of the 2021 AFLW season[11] and played every game for the Gold Coast that year while also being named equal leading goalkicker for the team in the 2021 season as well as finishing in the top 10 in the club's best and fairest count in her debut season.[12] It was revealed Levi signed a two-year contract extension with Gold Coast on 10 June 2021,[13] however, she was placed on the Suns' inactive list in October 2021 to pursue a full-time position with the national rugby sevens team.[14]

Rugby sevens career

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See also: List of players who have converted from one football code to another

In July 2021, Levi was announced as a shock inclusion for the Australian national rugby sevens team in the Tokyo Olympics competition at 19 years of age.[15][16] The team came second in the pool round and was eliminated by Fiji 14-12 in the quarterfinals.[17] She then committed to playing for the national team in the 2021–22 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series where she scored 24 tries on route to Australia securing its third championship which included titles in Canada, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.[18]

Levi won a gold medal with the Australian sevens team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[19][20][21] She was a member of the Australian team that won the 2022 Sevens Rugby World Cup held in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2022, scoring a hat-trick of tries in the final against New Zealand.[22]

2024 Summer Olympics

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In 2024, Levi was named in Australia's sevens side for the sevens tournament at the Summer Olympics in Paris.[23][24] Levi scored a tournament-high 14 tries which also made her the leading points scorer of the tournament.[25] In the group stage, Levi scored 5 tries in the opening match against South Africa, followed by three more against Great Britain and one against Ireland. In the quarter-finals, Levi scored a hat-trick against Ireland. In the semi-finals she scored one try against Canada which was Australia's only try of the match. In the bronze medal match against USA, Levi scored both of Australia's tries. Levi scored 14 of Australia's 24 tries for the tournament. In November 2024, she was nominated for World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards.[26]

Personal life

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Her sister Teagan Levi also represents Australia in rugby sevens.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "Maddi and Teagan Levi driving Queensland's National Youth Sevens campaign". Gold Coast Bulletin. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ^ "2020 Draft Prospects: Maddison Levi". AFL Women's. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ "New South Wales and Queensland emerge victorious at National Youth 7's". Rugby Australia. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  4. ^ "AFLQ Schools Cup: Miami State High veteran Lucy Single believes current players could follow in her footsteps and potentially become AFLW draftees". Gold Coast Bulletin. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Under 18 AFL Women's Queensland State Academy squad announced". Gold Coast Suns. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Levi always learning as she targets elite level". Draft Central. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Sisters Maddison and Tegan Levi are a fixture of Bond University's QAFLW's side". Gold Coast Bulletin. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Sisters Tegan and Maddison Levi have gotten Bond University's QAFLW season back on track with a 56-1 win over University of Queensland". Gold Coast Bulletin. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Miami State High becomes home for three Gold Coast Suns AFL Women's players". ABC News. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Academy product Maddison Levi drafted with pick 50". Gold Coast Suns. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. ^ "A Season Opener To Remember for 5 Debutants". Gold Coast Suns. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  12. ^ "2021 AFLW Club Champion: All the Winners". Gold Coast Suns. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  13. ^ Black, Sarah (10 June 2021). "List changes: Dogs lose their Spark, Pies swoop on big Blue". AFL Women's Media. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Maddison and Teagan Levi placed on inactive list". Gold Coast Suns. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Ponytail express bound for Olympics at just 19". Rugby Australia. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  16. ^ Williamson, Nathan (2 July 2021). "Australia announces Olympic Sevens squads | Latest Rugby News | RUGBY.com.au". www.rugby.com.au.
  17. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Who is Maddison Levi: Ten things you should know about the Australia sevens player". Rugby World. 26 July 2022.
  19. ^ Williamson, Nathan (5 July 2022). "Sevens squad confirmed for Commonwealth Games". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Australia and South Africa win rugby sevens gold at Commonwealth Games". www.world.rugby. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  21. ^ Williamson, Nathan (31 July 2022). "Australia claim Commonwealth Games gold". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Australia women win Sevens World Cup". Rugby World. 11 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Rugby Sevens launches Australia's Olympics campaign tonight". www.rugby.com.au. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Paris 2024 Olympics: Charlotte Caslick, Nicholas Malouf to Captain Australian Rugby Sevens Teams - Full Squads". olympics.com. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Individual Overall Scoring Statistics" (PDF). olympics.com. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  26. ^ "England's Kildunne and Matthews nominated for award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  27. ^ "Meet the 'incredible' Australian sisters being chased by three footy codes". 22 July 2022.
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