Emilee Jane Cherry (born 2 November 1992) is a former Australian

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She represented Australia in Sevens Rugby and won a gold medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio.

Rugby career

Born in

Roma, Queensland Roma is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Maranoa Region. The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Bowen ...

and playing for Toowoomba Bears at a club level, Cherry debuted for Australia in November 2012. As of December 2015, she had 14 caps. Cherry is a dual international, having represented Australia in

Touch football (rugby league) Touch (also known as touch football or touch rugby league) is a variant of rugby league that is conducted under the direction of the Federation of International Touch (FIT). Though it shares similarities and history with rugby league, it is rec ...

. Cherry was the 2013/14 Women’s Sevens World Player of the Year, her game lifting after Tim Walsh took over as Head Coach in September 2013. She scored the most tries in the series (33), scored the most points (195) and was the stand-out player during the 2013–14 IRB World Series season as she was named the 2014 Women's Sevens Player of the Year. Representative honours include Touch Football Australia, Aussie Pearls and Queensland. Cherry was a member of

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

team at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, defeating

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the final to win the inaugural Olympic gold medal in the sport. On 28 May 2021, she retired from rugby, citing injury and motherhood her reasons to retire.

World Rugby Hall of Fame

Cherry was announced as one of five players that will be inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

at the

World Rugby Awards The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby (until November 2014, known as the International Rugby Board), the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in ru ...

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on 24 November 2024.

References

External links

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Player profile at Australian Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Emilee 1992 births Australian female rugby union players Sportswomen from Queensland Australian female rugby sevens players Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for Australia Touch footballers Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Australia international rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games silver medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century Australian sportswomen