Gemma Etheridge (born 1 December 1986) is a semi-professional 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 represents Australia in

Sevens Rugby Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

. Born in

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

and playing for The Tribe at a club level, she debuted for

Australia 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 ...

in November 2012. She 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. Gemma Etheridge, who is the twin sister of fellow Rugby Sevens player, Nikki, is a qualified Radiographer from Tamworth, but calls

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

home. Gemma is a utility and can play either as a forward or as a back. Gemma grew up on a farm and still spends a lot of weekends doing cattle work. In November 2015, Etheridge was the first female Sevens Player Director to join the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) Board. She 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. At the

2017 Australia Day Honours The 2017 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2017 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove.Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

References

External links

Gemma Etheridge
at

Australian Rugby Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

* * * 1986 births Australian female rugby union players Australia international rugby sevens players Australian female rugby sevens players Living people Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Olympic rugby sevens players for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Tamworth, New South Wales Rugby union players from New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportswomen {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub