Chelsea's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Softball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1989
State Born: WA
About Chelsea
Chelsea Forkin played baseball as a child and was very successful, making it to her first nationals tournament at 14- years old. Despite this, she moved to softball to join her high school friends in the sport when she was sixteen.
Her talent was evident at a young age, being selected to the Australian team who competed at the ISF Junior Women's World Championship after only two years in the sport. The team travelled to the Netherlands, where they won a bronze medal at the tournament.
Later that year, Chelsea made her international debut for the Open team as an 18-year-old at the 2007 China Series. In that same year, she was crowned Most Valuable Player and Best Batter for her performance at the Junior Women's World Championships.
Chelsea has won two more bronze medals at the ISF Women's World Championships, this time in the Open's category. The Australian team came in third place in Canada 2012, and again in the Netherlands 2014. She has represented Australia at five Open World Championships in total.
Forkin has also medalled twice at the Canada Softball Cup. The Australian team winning Silver (2011), and Bronze (2013).
Chelsea is a recipient of an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship, where she won a Sport Achievement Award in 2011 in recognition of her performance as a defensive shortstop and influence in performances at the 2011 Canada Cup.
Chelsea plays as an outfielder for the Aussie Peppers in the National Pro Fastpitch League based in Minnesota, under the tutelage of coach Laing Harrow.
Off the pitch, Chelsea is a high school teacher in Brisbane and teaches physical education.
Chelsea made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 games, competing alongside the women's softball team. Australia would face a first-round matchup against Japan, now not only the past Olympic champions but also the hosts of the event. In their opening fixture, the Aussies would fall to Japan (8)-(1) a rough loss to the hosts, who would go on to win consecutive Gold medals.
Forkin would help Australia bounce back in their second fixture of the games, where they would hold a (1)-(0) lead against Italy until the end of the tie. They would not, however, continue this run of form, later falling to eventual bronze medalists in Canada.
This would set up a must-win match against the United States, one of the strongest teams competing in the discipline. Australia would fall agonisingly close to a result against the US, in a fixture that would remain scoreless for 7 innings and required to go into extras. The United States would ultimately edge out the match, winning (2) - (1).
In their final game, Australia would play Mexico for a place in the bronze medal match. The team would, unfortunately, fail to qualify for their third medal consecutive medal matchup, losing the match (4) - (1).
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