West Michigan Woman Helps Team USA Make History at Paris Olympics

A West Michigan native is now part of Olympic history as she was part of the women's rugby team for Team USA, and they've medaled for the first time ever.

28-year-old Alena Olsen, a Caledonia native, didn't grow up playing rugby. In fact, she played volleyball and soccer in high school and only started playing when she was 18 years old according to her bio on the Team USA website.

How Did Alena Olsen Get Started Playing Rugby?

As lore would have it, Olsen checked out a rugby practice while she was attending the University of Michigan during her freshman year and was immediately intrigued by the sport. Since then, she's earned honors playing college rugby for UofM and moved on to play for the San Diego Surfers, a Premier Rugby Sevens team. (On their website, they boast that a whopping 43 players from their league are playing in the Paris Olympics.)

Team USA Women's Rugby Brings Home First-Ever Olympic Medal

Women's rugby hasn't always been an Olympic sport. It was only added to the roster of summer games in 2016. Since then, Team USA has competed in every Olympic games but had never brought home a medal - until now.

READ MORE: These Michigan Olympians Accomplished Something Not Done in 16 Years

This time around, many were saying that this would be the year that the US women's team would medal and they were correct! After beating both Japan and Brazil (and losing to France) in the pool play round, the US women moved on to the quarter-finals where they defeated Great Britain before falling to New Zealand in the semi-final round. New Zealand ultimately ended up winning gold, while Canada brought home silver, and Team USA was awarded the bronze medal.