Tarni's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Softball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1999
State Born: NSW
About Tarni
Tarni Stepto made her junior national team debut as a teenager before recording her first appearance for the Aussie Spirit, the senior side, the following year.
Stepto grew up idolising fellow Kamilaroi woman and Tokyo 2020 teammate Stacey Porter, who she credits with helping her growth as a professional and growing as a person.
Hailing from a sports-crazed family, Stepto was introduced to softball at a young age, and was first inspired to pick up the game after her sister began playing on the diamond.
A shy child, Stepto often distanced herself from any attention at school, and would often shirk the spotlight when playing softball, opting instead to cut a casual figure on the diamond rather than display her full talents to limit any unwanted observation from her classmates.
Stepto was selected to her first NSW team in 2015, and the following year was crowned the Most Valuable Player at the U17 National Championships, as well as the Best Pitcher and Best Player of the Grand Final awards.
In 2018, Stepto was selected to her first Australian senior side, debuting in the Pacific Cup and also being named to the World Championship squad.
Stepto would then sign with Oregon State University to experience the American collegiate softball game. In America, Stepto earned the Scenic West Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year award.
For Tarni, representing Australia has always been the ultimate goal, with both herself and her family making continual sacrifices for the Sydney raised product to reach her dreams of competing on the international stage.
Stepto 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.
Tarni 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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