Shannon's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Rugby Sevens
Event: Women's Rugby Sevens
Olympic History: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1989
State Born: QLD
About Shannon
Shannon Parry started playing rugby when she was 18 years old in the fifteen-a-side format and lined up for the Wallaroos in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. She started sevens in 2013 and, having become co-captain for the 2015/16 season, was named in the World Series Dream Team as she proved herself as one of the sport’s best players.
Shannon made history in Rio as she co-captained the Australia rugby women’s sevens team to gold in Rio. The Aussies defeated New Zealand 24-17 in the Olympic final, ensuring Australia claimed the first Olympic Rugby Sevens gold medal.
The victory capped off a massive 2016 for the team who also became the first Australian side to win the World Series.
Shannon played in the 15-a-side 2017 World Cup, before returning to the sevens competition in January 2018 to play in the Sydney leg of the 2017-2018 World Series.
One of the best forwards in the game, Shannon was part of the team that emerged from the Sydney leg undefeated, a first in the World Sevens Series, beating Spain (twice), PNG, France, and Russia on the way to nailing a 31-0 victory over New Zealand in the final.
Success continued in 2018 with silver at the Commonwealth Games and then bronze at the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco.
Shannon made her second Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020, hoping to continue the success of the squad from Rio. After victories over Japan and China, Australia would qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament, facing Fiji. What followed was a tense and hard-fought match, decided only by 2 points, with Fiji winning 14-12.
The team bounced back and achieved victories against both the Russian Olympic Committee (35-7) and the United States (17-7) to achieve 5th overall at the Games.
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