CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Pandemonium ensued, but Lauren Doyle needed to have a level head.
The U.S. seemed destined to miss out on a medal being pinned deep in its own half before Alex Sedrick broke away for a game-tying try in the final seconds. All that kept the Americans from a first-ever bronze medal was the conversion.
New Zealand’s Michaela Blyde, right, scores a try despite a tackle by United States’ Lauren Doyle during the women’s semifinal Rugby Sevens match between New Zealand and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, France. The U.S. lost the semis but rallied to win the bronze medal.
In the celebrations of a miracle finish, some players almost lost track that the U.S. had 30 seconds to complete the conversion. But Doyle, who had informed Sedrick that she’d take the conversions if they scored, rallied the team before the try was completed and the celebrations could continue.
After a 14-12 win over Australia in the bronze medal match on July 30 in Paris players were able to celebrate the program’s breakthrough by running and mobbing each other on the field. That included the veteran star Doyle, a Boody native, Meridian graduate and Eastern Illinois alum.
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“It’s just elation,” Doyle said. “All the hard work that we did at home wasn’t for nothing this time. Because we’ve really been working hard, so it’s just a complete sense of relief and accomplishment.”
Doyle has been with the team for all three of its Olympic appearances and was a co-captain of the team for its historic last-second triumph in Paris. Doyle and her teammates had been planning and working towards a medal before falling just short in Rio and Tokyo.
“I’ve been on the team since 2012 and it’s been in almost every conversation that we’ve ever had,” Doyle said. “Getting on the podium, all of those goals, and then for it to finally happen is crazy.”
The U.S. women finished fifth and sixth in the first two games that included rugby. It’s earned a couple of bronze medals at world championships in 2009 and 2013, but this came on the biggest stage in sports. The U.S. also won the Pan American Games for the first time in 2023 and appears to be rising to a new level.
“You always put in a lot of freaking work,” Doyle said. “And obviously, I’ve been to two other Olympics, and when you don’t medal, it’s kind of like, ‘Did you even go?’ It just doesn’t change your life like that. When you medal, it’s a completely different experience, for sure.”
After their tournament, a hectic media tour followed. Appearances on the Today Show and on Olympic wrap-up late-night shows followed along with multiple local interviews and media appearances.
That meant Doyle’s bronze medal was strapped to her for hours after they got them on the podium. Doyle and a couple of other athletes were also drug-tested the next day.
“I didn’t get back to the village until about two or 2:30 a.m. and that was when I finally took it off,” Doyle said.
That hectic storm in the days following the end of the tournament turned into some time in Italy that Doyle spent with her roommate and friend Kristi Kirshe in Italy. Even there they couldn’t escape the notoriety that comes with becoming an Olympic medalist.
“The amount that we didn’t have to tell people what our sport was, or they would ask us what our sport was and then be like, ‘Oh my God, you guys medaled!'” Doyle said. “It was like, whoa, the world actually saw it and not just your small bubble that you always interact with.”
The United States team celebrate after winning the women’s bronze medal Rugby Sevens match between the United States and Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 30 at the Stade de Franc in Saint-Denis, France. The U.S. won for its first-ever bronze medal.
The U.S. rugby program has grown in popularity since Doyle started with the program in 2012, but winning a medal has the potential to be a springboard for the program.
“I hope that this does huge things for the program and for the awareness in the US that we have a rugby team and we’re pretty good,” Doyle said.
After winning the bronze medal, philanthropist and owner of multiple women’s professional soccer clubs Michele Kang donated $4 million to the women’s rugby program for the next Olympic cycle. That’s one example of the kind of support that’s been growing after the program’s first time getting on the Olympic podium.
“That’s just huge for our program,” Doyle said. “… Hopefully this will create a great foundation for our Pathways Program. Our (under-20s and under-23s teams) can finally develop and when they come into the main squad, it’s not such a jump and people don’t get overwhelmed and stuff like that.”
That triumph acted as a sendoff for Doyle, who is retiring after her third Olympics and a 12-year career with the national rugby team. She got the medal she and her teammates have been chasing for a decade and will have that bronze medal and other items from this year’s games stored in her apartment forever.
“The whole tournament itself was emotional,” Doyle said. “There were a few of us that knew for a fact. … The whole tournament was very emotional. The whole build-up, it was like, oh it’s Lauren’s last first game, or so and so.”
