Gabrielle's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Softball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1998
State Born: NSW
About Gabrielle
With a storied American collegiate career in tow, Gabrielle Plain was more than prepared to move to the international stage when Tokyo 2020 came.
Plain made her debut for NSW at the 2014 U17 National Championships, with her continued prowess over the coming years earning her a position on the Australian U19 squad.
The pitcher joined the University of Washington softball team in 2018, and in her freshman season, was named to the Pac-12 Conference First Team as she led her side to the 2018 Women’s College World Series, where the Huskies were ultimately defeated by Florida State 2-0 in the finals.
On the diamond, Plain has earned plaudits for her composure and calmness while maintaining a competitive spirit that saw the Huskies remain a daunting side throughout her collegiate career.
In her senior season, Plain became the fastest University of Washington softball player to reach 50 wins in their career.
Now with her collegiate season over, Plain has reoriented her focus to the national team, where the Spirit will welcome her to a strong Australian squad.
Playing in an Olympic Games stands as an opportunity like no other for Plain, with the Sydney native viewing the chance to play against the best all while being beside her compatriots as a proposition that she looked forward to seizing in Tokyo.
Plain 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.
Gabrielle 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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