Soldier-Olympian tames emotions, leads USA to Olympic medal

WASHINGTON - After reaching near euphoria, Sammy Sullivan had to calm herself. Seconds separated her U.S. Rugby sevens team from its first Olympic medal.

With the score knotted at 12 in the bronze final, Alex Sedrick, a tiny but powerful center from Salt Lake City had just scored one of the biggest tries of the Olympics. Barely containing her excitement, Sullivan ran into the arms of teammate Kayla Canett on the U.S. bench.

The crowd came to life inside Stade de France, a sprawling, oval-shaped stadium that sits north of Paris.

Then Sullivan paused, realizing the U.S. still needed to kick the extra point to secure the upset over Australia. Sullivan had to settle down her teammates while tempering her emotions, a skill she learned at the U.S. Military Academy.

"To go from the highest of highs, and then to have to calm yourself down and wait for that extra point, yeah, it's tough," Sullivan said.

The tension brewed along the U.S. bench and large contingent of American fans.

Until that moment on July 30, Sullivan, a captain in the Army World Class Athlete Program stationed at Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, California, had captured international attention with her furious intensity.

Sullivan and the 60,000 in attendance watched in hushed silence, as Sedrick, one of Sullivan's best friends, lined her kick. The ball came off Sedrick's foot and sailed through the uprights.

Sullivan and her U.S. teammates rushed the field as the crowd erupted.

Rising Star

Sullivan, a prop on the U.S. national team never backed away from a challenge. Whether facing a smaller university as a member of the U.S. Military Academy's women's rugby team, or World Rugby powers, she remained the same, said her former West Point coach, Bill LeClerc.

At the Paris Games, Sullivan scored tries in decisive wins against Japan (36-7) and Brazil (24-5). She rallied her teammates on the pitch with her electric energy, shouting words of encouragement or patting a teammate on the back.

"Sammy plays with passion," LeClerc said. "She believes in everything that she does, so she's not afraid to wear those emotions on her sleeve. And that ... inspires others. If she's going to do something, she gives it everything."

As one of the U.S. Rugby teams' leaders during the 2024 Summer Games, she has brought national attention to the sport of rugby and her role as a Soldier-Athlete.

"I joined the Army because I wanted to be a platoon leader, and I wanted to serve my nation," said Sullivan, a 12A engineer officer. "But when it became a possibility that I could do both - be an Army officer and an Olympian … I think winning that bronze medal just solidified to me that you can do both.

"That's what I hope inspires other Soldiers; that you can do whatever you want in the Army. You just have to find the right avenue and be dedicated."

When the 'backup' plan becomes the primary

Sullivan's rugby journey began with a conversation in the summer heat in 2016. During new cadet boot camp at West Point then-women's soccer Coach Marcia McDermott told Sullivan her fall roster had been set. She didn't have a place for Sullivan, a physical, bruising midfielder in high school and club soccer.

Sullivan had attended a West Point soccer camp and sent McDermott her highlight reel. Unknown to family and friends, she said the thought of not playing a sport she had competed in since childhood rattled her. Although Sullivan didn't possess the same array of dribbling and passing skills of her counterparts, she could muscle her way out of scraps and set up teammates.

"Yeah, it was devastating," Sullivan said. "During [boot camp] it's a very emotionally draining time as it is.

"It was really difficult for me just because a lot of my identity was wrapped up in soccer at that point. It's like what I grew up loving and what my dream was to play in college."

Sullivan said she remembered an email she received from LeClerc earlier that summer in 2016. Before the school year, LeClerc contacts cadets with diverse athletic backgrounds in the hopes of garnering recruits for his team.

When Sullivan first took the rugby field, she shocked her teammates with her hard tackling and aggressive nature.

"All the other girls who were learning rugby for the first time were a little frustrated with me at first," she said. "But ultimately they learned it was just kind of my personality."

Sullivan competed in her first Rugby game against Quinnipiac and future U.S. Rugby teammate Illona Maher in 2016. Sullivan struggled at first missing tackles and keeping up with her teammates. She said she didn't yet have the instinct to make split second decisions on a crowded Rugby 15s pitch.

"That was a whirlwind," Sullivan said. "That first game really didn't instill much confidence in me."

But the cadet instilled confidence in LeClerc who decided to start Sullivan in her third ever Rugby 15s game.

Sullivan's twin brother, Jackson remembered that winter break in 2016 when he and Sammy would toss the rugby ball in the family's backyard in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Sammy would spend hours practicing passing with her father, retired Army Col. Michael Sullivan.

She'd arrive at practice before teammates and toss the ball 20 times with each hand, throwing passes farther and farther. In rugby sevens the number of competitors on the field shrinks from 30 to 14, and she had to learn to connect accurate throws from a greater distance.

"She didn't skimp on things when it came to making herself better," LeClerc said.

Inner battle

Sullivan said she had to get over her toughest hurdle - herself.

During Sullivan's junior season the Black Knights advanced to the Final Four of the 2018 National Intercollegiate Rugby Association 15s championship to face Dartmouth in rural western New Hampshire.

A snowstorm blanketed the field, as Army succumbed to a 26-7 defeat. The Black Knights struggled to score in the slippery, frigid conditions.

"It just was the most miserable game physically," Sullivan said. "And then to lose that game …"

The defeat left Sullivan so devastated that she ran past the opposing players without shaking hands after the match. With her legs and hands numb, Sullivan rushed to warm her extremities in a shower of hot water.

Sullivan reflected on this and said she vowed to never show poor sportsmanship again. Sullivan admitted she would often sulk after losing close games, shouldering most of the blame.

She would get irritated if she saw a teammate laughing or joking after a tough loss. She pored over game film to see what she could have done better.

"It's something I've really struggled with … dealing with my emotions," Sullivan said. "I'm also my biggest critic, and I'm really hard on myself.

"I would relive every mistake in the game and convince myself that I was the reason we had lost. Ultimately that would consume me to the point where I was playing like almost too angry - too out of control at times."

Although Sullivan admittedly struggled with her feelings, she still made the NIRA 15s All-American team helping lead the Black Knights to a 29-11¬1 mark.

A meeting with a sports psychologist on West Point's campus after her sophomore seasons helped Sullivan reach a turning point in her athletic career. For the first time, Sullivan learned to tame her emotions by focusing on the present, she said.

"She is extra hard on herself," said Jackson, an infantry officer stationed at Fort Moore, Georgia. "She got pretty frustrated, but she found a way to get through it."

Sullivan's growth on the Rugby pitch culminated in her junior and senior years. As a junior she earned her the prestigious Prusmack Award, given annually to the nation's top female rugby sevens player. During her senior season, she led the Knights to a 7-2 mark.

Most notably, during a 50-0 rout of rival Quinnipiac, Sullivan couldn't be contained or brought down, scoring a career-high 20 points on four tries.

"Every time she got the ball … she was gone," LeClerc said. "Give her the smallest gap, she'd just power her way through."

At West Point, Sullivan thrived in rugby sevens, she said. Her tremendous speed allowed her to quickly close the gap on a driving opponent. LeClerc said Sullivan could run backward as fast as she moved forward, allowing her to defend a wide distance. The ferociousness that sometimes hindered her play in soccer became her strength on the rugby pitch.

She could channel her aggression and have tunnel vision on an opponent carrying the ball.

"It started to click how hard I could tackle and how aggressive I was with the rugby ball in my hand," she said. "I wasn't going to be an easy takedown. That physicality … started to work in my favor."

Sullivan finished left West Point as a three-time 15s All-American and the program's all-time leading scorer in rugby sevens. Her play caught the attention of USA Rugby.

In December 2019, Sammy and Jackson drove south to the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia when she heard her cell phone ring.

U.S. Rugby sevens Coach Emilie Bydwell called to tell Sullivan she wanted her on the national team.

"It was like a dream come true," Sullivan said.

A sports family

Athletics dominated the Sullivan twins' early lives on military installations in Kentucky, Hawaii and North Carolina. Their father, Michael, a Green Beret, often had to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom, spending months away from his children.

Michael competed as a rugby player at the collegiate level as an Army ROTC cadet at Claremont McKenna College. The Sullivan twins watched their father's club team games while stationed in Hawaii. But when the Sullivans settled in the Fayetteville area, Sammy discovered soccer.

Sammy said witnessing her father's camaraderie with fellow Soldiers inspired her to apply to West Point and join the Army.

"The bonds he formed in the military really inspired me," she said.

When the Sullivan twins decided they wanted to apply to attend West Point, they knew they needed to continue to be a part of athletics. After watching their dad compete as a runner while stationed in Hawaii, the twins became track athletes at Fayetteville's Jack Britt High School. Jackson later earned a place on the Academy's track team competing in the 800-meter run and 4x4 relay.

Sammy said that earning a spot on the Rugby team would eventually help her thrive academically. She later served as West Point's Trust program coordinator, where she counseled victims of sexual assault and harassment. She graduated as one of the academy's three female majors in computer science in 2020.

Duty first

Before she ever took the practice field with the U.S. National Team in Chula Vista, California, she served as an engineering officer at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Team USA coaches had scouted Sammy since her junior year an invited her to train with the team following graduation.

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sullivan said she decided to build her leadership skills with the promise she would try out for the national team again two years later.

At Fort Carson, Sullivan said she learned to operate as a member of a different team and praised the work of her noncommissioned officers.

Sullivan said her two years' experience as a platoon leader gave her the leadership and maturity before she joined the U.S. national rugby team.

Too keep her skills fresh, she joined semi pro Rugby teams, commuting from Fort Carson an hour north to the Denver area. When Sullivan joined the Army World Class Athlete program, she first competed for the All-Army women's rugby team for about a year before finally attending camp with the U.S. Rugby 15s team and making her national team debut for 15s in June 2022.

Less than two months later, Sullivan accepted an invite to travel to San Diego to train with the U.S. national team rugby sevens team. Sullivan made the team after spending only two months with the team and went on to compete in the 2022 Rugby Sevens World Cup in South Africa.

In 2023, Sullivan and the U.S. Rugby Sevens national team medaled four times at international tournaments highlighted by a first place finish in the 2023 Pan American Games.

When Sullivan faced the international level she said she found many of her peers could run as fast and hit as hard she did. She posted one of the team's fastest times in the Bronco test, a series of shuttle runs designed to measure a rugby player's stamina and fitness levels.

Sullivan worked on her speed and got faster.

Sullivan said she returned to her fundamental skills, including basic passing and tackling to become a better all-around player that could play multiple positions.

She earned a starting spot, and when the rugby sevens national team announced its Olympic roster, Sullivan had finally reached a pinnacle she had dreamed of as a child. She would compete in her first Olympic Games.

Making history

Sullivan and her teammates faced a talent-heavy field that included world powers New Zealand and Australia. Still, the decisive win against Great Britain gave the Americans hope.

After the British seized the early 7-0 lead, scores on tries by U.S. players Naya Tapper and Kristi Kirshe gave the U.S. the lead. Sullivan then sealed the 17-7 win taking a pass from Kirshe to score from 15 yards.

"Once we had won against [Great Britain] that's when we really started to let ourselves believe," Sullivan said. "What makes this team so special is just our sheer grit and determination."

And the contests where she didn't score, she still impacted the game. Against the gold medal favorite New Zealand, Sullivan relentlessly attacked, boldly charging against the Black Ferns during the Americans' 24-12 loss.

After the pivotal quarterfinal win over Great Britain, Sullivan told her family that she had grown frustrated with stiffness in her shoulder, which hindered her ability to unload on tackles.

Following the loss, the U.S. team could have folded after a decisive defeat. In the bronze medal match, the Americans faced an Australian team that had won the Rugby sevens international championship and entered the Olympics as gold medal contenders.

Sullivan said she recalled what her sports psychologist at West Point told her: focus on the present.

"Truly rugby has given me the people that I'm closest to outside of my platoon mates," Sullivan said. "But I think it's taught me resilience. It's taught me what sisterhood looks like. It's taught me how to handle failure with grace."

"And it's not about how you fail. It's about what you do after you fail."

Against the Australians, Sullivan didn't hold back.

She made two critical tackles in a tight, low-scoring match. In the first half with the score tied 7-7, Australian fly half Madison Levi powered past two U.S. players. Sullivan charged toward Caslick, sending her to the ground with a low tackle and preventing a breakaway. Thirty seconds later, Sullivan followed with another tackle, bringing Australian Sariah Paki down from behind. The play drew a penalty on Australia.

"She was just running them down and absolutely putting her body on the line," said Jackson who watched from the stands with family. "She definitely laid it all out there."

With under two minutes, Bydwell subbed Sullivan out of the contest. With Sullivan watching from the U.S. bench, Australia scored on a try with two minutes left when Maddison Levi took a pass for her sister Teagan to run in a try putting Australia up 12-7 after a missed extra point.

The U.S. women then rallied for a comeback reminiscent of a classic sports movie. With the U.S. pinned near their own goal, Sedrick shed a tackle attempt by Australia's Cortnee Vine and sprinted 94 yards downfield, and falling into the goal to score the game-tying try.

"As soon as she started running, I knew she was going to score, because I just know Spiff's talents," Sullivan said. "So I was jumping up and down. I was screaming as hard as I could for her to just keep going."

Here Sullivan, showed the maturity of her years on the rugby pitch in tempering her feelings. But once Sedrick's extra points kick went through the goal posts, Sullivan finally let her emotions spill.

She hugged teammates as the U.S. women celebrated on the field. She said a team effort spurred the Americans to the triumph.

"We all come from these different backgrounds," she said. "But we all collectively believe in ourselves and in our values. So I think it's easy to root for a team like that, especially a bit of an underdog team."

When Sullivan returned to the United States in August, she wed her boyfriend, U.S. rugby men's team trainer Josh Schnell. She said she plans to remain with the U.S. national team and the WCAP program, making a push for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Sullivan said she looks back on her bronze medal with mixed feelings.

"It was bittersweet because I'm going to miss this group of girls. But I'm also excited about the talent coming in. I think gold in 2028 is the ultimate goal for our program."

RELATED LINKS:

Capt. Sammy Sullivan continues to tell her story after winning Olympic bronze in rugby

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