St Mary's Alumna Selected for Team GB Rugby 7s at Rio 2016

Alumna of St Mary’s University, Twickenham Alice Richardson has been selected to represent Team GB in its first ever Rugby 7s squad at Rio 2016. Alice, who graduated in 2009 from BSc Nutrition and Sports Science, will be part of the first Team GB squad to compete in Rugby 7s in over a century. She joins Alumnus Simon Amor, who graduated in 2000, who is the Head Coach of the Men’s Rugby 7 squad, also competing at the Games. Director of Sport St Mary’s Andrew Reid-Smith said, “St Mary’s engagement with the Rio Olympics is significant and this is really exemplified by the GB Rugby 7s. Simon is a former World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, a Commonwealth Games medal winner who has transitioned into a world-class coach. Alice is an outstanding player who has represented her country at 7s and 15s and will be Vice-Captain of the GB team. This is an exciting time for women’s and men’s rugby with 7s making its debut at the Olympics, we wish the GB squads every success.” Alice joins a group of 17 students, athletes and alumni from St Mary’s at Rio 2016, representing their countries in a host of sports including Track and Field, Boxing, Rowing, and Fencing, amongst others. Find out more here. St Mary’s has a proud history of Olympic and Paralympic success. The University’s sporting alumni include Mo Farah, the London 2012 double gold medallist and GB’s best ever distance runner, Rebecca Romero, an Olympic medallist in two different sports rowing and cycling making her one of GB’s greatest ever Olympians, and Moe Sbihi, London 2012 Bronze Medallist and World Champion Rower. Dave Weir, winner of four gold medals at the London Paralympics, trains at St Mary’s using the world-class facilities and support services. As part of St Mary’s contribution to the London Games the University supported athletes from ten different nations and provided Pre Games Training Camps for China, South Africa, Japan and Ireland. Based on London 2012 medals won St Mary’s finished sixth, the highest placed London institution, in Podium’s league table for universities. Lord Coe, the chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and President of the IAAF, opened St Mary’s latest sports facilities. International athletes competing at the Games used these facilities, which continue to provide a sporting legacy for students, staff and local community alike.