Stacey's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Softball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1989
State Born: NSW
About Stacey
Born to two softball players, the love of the sport was written into Stacey McManus's DNA. She played her first game at the age of four, with her two sisters also pursuing the same route.
Stacey's first taste of success came at fifteen years old, when she was named to the New South Wales U16 team. The following year as a student at Endeavour Sports High School, she led the school team to the NSW CHS girl's baseball knockout final, where she hit a home run.
In 2006, she was a member of the New South Wales team that won the Australian All Schools Softball Championship. After high school, she would accept a scholarship to play softball for the Australian Institute of Sport.
At 22 years old, she made her international debut with the Australian Team who competed at the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Series, as well as the World Cup of Softball.
She played a three-game test series for Australia against New Zealand, with whom her sister played for. Australia won the series undefeated. That year, they were both named the 2012 monthly Leader-Tynan Honda Sportstar of the Year.
With four World Championship appearances under her belt, McManus is a cornerstone of the Australia Spirit, a vital component to the team that travelled to the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 games.
Stacey 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.
McManus 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).
Read More
