Isadora "Izzy" Cerullo (born 24 March 1991) is a

Brazilian-American Brazilian Americans ( or ) are Americans who are of full or partial Brazilian ancestry. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates the Brazilian American population to be 1,905,000, the largest of any Brazilian diaspora. The larges ...

rugby sevens 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 ...

player.

Early life and education

Cerullo was raised in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. Her parents immigrated to the United States from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the last years of the country's

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

which lasted from 1964 to 1985. She is one of four children and a triplet, with two brothers the same age and one older brother. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil. Cerullo graduated in 2009 from William G. Enloe High School, where she was a member of the varsity soccer and cross-country teams. She went on to attend

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

to study medicine and was a member of the rugby team and a writer for the

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the second-oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', a ...

, graduating in 2013. While a student at Columbia, she worked as an

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (often, more simply, EMT) is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and som ...

Career

Cerullo was recruited to play internationally while a member of Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club. Cerullo moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

to play rugby professionally. She won a bronze medal at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

as a member of the

Brazil women's national rugby sevens team Brazil v. Great Britain The Brazil women's national rugby sevens team has appeared in the Olympics, the Rugby World Cup, the Women's Sevens Series, and other competitions. Brazil has won every regional championship in South America. Their team ...

. She was selected for the Brazil women's rugby sevens team to compete in 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Brazil's women's rugby team placed ninth at the 2016 Olympics.

Personal life

Following the final of the women's rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cerullo's partner of two years, Marjorie Yuri Enya, walked onto the field at

Deodoro Stadium Deodoro Stadium is a temporary stadium at Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro, Deodoro Modern Pentathlon Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium hosted Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics, rugby sevens and modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympic ...

and publicly asked Cerullo to marry her. The proposal was widely reported in the media, with Cerullo being the first athlete to accept a marriage proposal at the Olympics. The couple currently lives in

. Cerullo is a feminist.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerullo, Isadora 1991 births Living people American feminists American sportspeople of Brazilian descent Brazilian feminists Brazil international rugby sevens players Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni LGBTQ people from North Carolina Brazilian LGBTQ sportspeople American LGBTQ rugby union players LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people Olympic rugby sevens players for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games rugby sevens players for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens players at the 2015 Pan American Games South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in rugby sevens Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina Enloe High School alumni Competitors at the 2018 South American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2019 Pan American Games Columbia College (New York) alumni Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Brazilian female rugby union players Brazil international women's rugby sevens players Brazilian rugby sevens players Rugby union players from North Carolina Brazilian LGBTQ women 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen