At just 20-years-old, Australian Sevens star Maddison Levi has taken the World Series circuit by storm. To put it simply, her ceiling appears to be limitless.
Levi has already proven herself to be one of the best Rugby Sevens talents in Australia, if not the world.
But the Queenslander, who has scored the most tries and points during this year’s Women’s World Series, could’ve gone down a very different sporting path.
After devoting herself to dance throughout her childhood, as she trained six hours a day after school, Levi began playing both Aussie Rules and rugby in Year 10 – and she hasn’t looked back.
Levi was a prodigy in both sports, having set the AFLW Draft combine record for the 20 metre sprint. The tall forward was later drafted by the Gold Coast Suns after coming through their Academy.
After a stellar first season in Aussie Rules, which saw her play all but one of the Suns’ matches, Levi was a shock selection for the Olympic Games. Australian Sevens coach John Manenti picked the rising star for the Games, just nine weeks after her final AFLW appearance.
“It was a pretty whirlwind year, everything kind of fell into place. I had a pretty lucky year,” Levi told RugbyPass.
“COVID was unfortunate and impacted a lot of people but I can stay that it was kind of a blessing in disguise for me.
“Drafted in 2019 and then debuted for the Suns a year later, played that whole season.
“I originally got told by a few people that if I invested into AFL that my chances of making rugby were pretty slim afterwards, so I just thought ‘you don’t tell me no.’
“I went back and worked harder playing rugby on the site and just training, keeping up my skills, and then got brought into the Oceania team which in my eyes was a great opportunity to put my foot forward for a contract.
“Never did I imagine that I’d have John Manenti asking me to stay back and go to the Olympics with the girls, that’s for sure.”
Levi has clearly travelled quite a unique path on her way to World Series stardom.
