Gemma's Story
Gemma Beadsworth will made her third Olympic appearance at the Rio 2016 Games, after winning back-to-back bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
The Aussies kicked started their Rio campaign with a strong, dominant 14-4 win over Russia. Their second pool match proved to be more of a challenge with the green and gold side narrowly going down to Italy 7-8 despite the scores being tied until the final seconds.
The Aussies then powered home to take a decisive 10-3 win over hosts Brazil in the final pool game, setting up a quarter final clash against Hungary. In a physical, tense and ultimately heartbreaking encounter the Australians lost in a penalty shootout after scores were level, 8-8, after four quarters, ending their 2016 Olympic campaign.
The Western Australian was the youngest member of the Beijing 2008 team, turning 21 a month before the Games. Beadsworth’s nine goals placed her among the tournament’s top ten scorers. The bronze medal final against Hungary was decided in a penalty shoot-out, the final score being 12-11. In 2012, the bronze medal game again featured Australia and Hungary, where the Stingers took out the match 13-11 in penalty shootout, with Beadsworth scoring ten tournament goals.
The right-handed centre forward started playing water polo at age eight. She made her first appearance on a national team in 2005, winning bronze at the Junior World Championships in Perth and placing sixth at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
A love of the sport runs in the family, with her brother Jamie playing water polo for Australia at the Beijing and London Games. The Beadsworth siblings made their Australian team debuts together in 2005 and Olympic debuts together in 2008. Beadsworth has a Bachelor of Commerce from the Curtin University of Technology and is an Assistant Development Manager at Peet Limited Land Developer.
