UW-Madison alum Alev Kelter won the bronze medal with her USA Women’s Rugby teammates at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Team USA faced off against Australia — World Cup and SVNS Series champions.
With just seconds left in the close match against Australia, Kelter’s teammate Alex Sedrick “runs the length of the field, touches down under the posts,” winning the match for Team USA, according to the Olympics live blog.
Team USA beat Australia 14-12, bringing home the bronze.
Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA played through stadium PA speakers just after their win, according to the Olympics live blog.
With UW soccer, she helped the team reach the Sweet 16 and assisted a winning goal in the National Championship against Boston University.
England took gold in the Women’s Nations Cup at Torun this afternoon. A disastrous start for England, with falls and an exclusion, saw Poland take an early seven points lead. However, the England riders settled down and adjusted to the Skierki track conditions to run out 83-65 winners.
England then took the silver medal in the European Veterans Nations Cup. The host nation ran out comfortable winners, with England seeing off a spirited challenge from Ireland to take second place.
Final score: Poland 77, England 51, Ireland 44.
In the evening, it was gold for England in the Junior Nations Cup. In an absolutely brilliant match of exciting racing, with fortunes fluctuating, England put in a magnificent performance to win a pulsating match, 91-87.
England Junior teams have suffered some horrendous defeats on Polish shale over the past 20 years, so this deserved victory has stemmed that tide. Massive credit to England Junior Team Manager, Zac Payne, who in his five years in post, has developed a superb squad of riders.
The day’s racing concluded with an exciting Open Nations Cup final. Racing was fast and furious under the track floodlights, with no shortage of passing, slips and falls. The England team put in a terrific effort, but finished four points behind Poland, with Wales third and Ireland fourth.
Final score: Poland 63, England 59, Wales 42, Ireland 32.
The Sunday of the championships was delayed after heavy rain and strong winds throughout the night, morning and early afternoon. The staging Torun club members and local fire brigade worked tirelessly to clear the track of excess water and prepare the race strip.
In the first final of the day, Polish riders made it a 1-2-3, with Pawel Kozlowski winning the veterans title ahead of Lukasz Rajewski and Dariusz Pilas. Mark Winwood and Craig Norton were the highest placed British riders, joint 10th, after each scoring 12 points.
The rain stopped and conditions were much improved for the junior final. Southampton’s Leon Penketh kept a cool head to take the title, scoring 17 points. Polish riders Arkadiusz Graczyk and Pawel Skudlarek completed the podium places.
After 20 heats of exciting racing in the women’s final, four riders tied for first place on 17 points, so a run-off was necessary. Poland’s world champion Zuzia Klett, beat Astley & Tyldesley’s Emily Burgess by the narrowest of margins to take the title. Kesgrave’s Lily Parr was third and Poole’ s Maddie Saunders fourth.
Leave a Reply