PARIS — UW-Madison alum Alev Kelter brought home the bronze with her Team USA Women’s Rugby teammates on Tuesday — and she made history.
It was the first time that an American rugby team won a medal at the Olympics.
Team USA was up against World Cup and SVNS Series champions Australia, ranked 5th in the world, in the bronze-metal match. Kelter helped the team to a 7-7 tie after the first half — she got the ball after a scrum, scoring a Try with just a minute left. She also scored earlier in the day in the semifinal against eventual gold medalist New Zealand.
Team USA defeated Australia with a final score of 14-12.
But Alev Kelter’s sport wasn’t always rugby. She was a two-sport athlete at UW-Madison with impressive feats in hockey and soccer. Kelter was a member of the Badger women’s hockey squad that won a National Championship in 2011, tallying an assist in the National Championship Game. On the Badger women’s soccer team, Kelter started every match in 2013 and took her team to the Sweet 16 as a starting center midfielder.
Kelter started breaking records before college. At age 14, she became the first girl from the state of Alaska on the U.S. Soccer under-14 Olympic National Development Program and Girls National Team. She was also the first female to play on the Chugiak High School boys varsity squad.
After college, Kelter discovered rugby and has been on Team USA for three Olympics. She became the number one scorer for Team USA in Rio 2016 and the first American woman to ever score a Try in the Olympic games.
