Lisa Henneman won gold medal in a tight contest at the first ever Rugby Olympics. Pushed all the way by newcomer Annie Lucas, who ended up with the silver medal, Henneman’s success was based on her scores in her weakest events, like hooker strike. Henneman’s miss in her second attempt at a drop goal gave Lucas a chance to pressure her in the hooker throw. Despite scoring 5 points with her first throw, she was offline in the second and that is what gave the gold to Henneman.
“Annie was a great competitor, and she pushed me all the way,” Henneman said. “I knew it would come down to a blond with great hair.”
In third place was Caitlin “Tuna” Singletary, whose ambitious attempts at drop goals from the 22, despite barely being able to get the ball off the ground, doomed her attempt for the winners medal. “Just give me one more attempt,” said the Big Tuna. “I will get it next time….”
Carlee Wilson was cheated of her chance at gold by the judges. “It was ridiculous,” said Wilson. “There was an obvious bias towards blonds in this competition. As soon as the judges saw I as doing well they started to change the scoring for the events and penalizing the brunettes. The mean English judge was particularly bad.” Despite being cheated of a medal Wilson was gracious in defeat and vowed to “work on her back skills” for next time.
The surprise of the competition was Kay Onyekwere, representing Nigeria. While new to the sport of rugby olympics, Onyekwere’s raw athleticism allowed her to compete despite her lack of understanding of the rules of the game. “I am still not sure what a drop kick is,” said Onyekwere, “but I know how to win. Those blonds better watch out next time.”
In the battle for the wooden spoon Kiersten Herr, just back from injury, managed to squeeze past Deven Owsiany. “I was embarrassed to be the only blond not to win something,” said Owsiany. “I cannot believe that I scored points on the hooker throw at the end! It was scoring points that lost me the wooden spoon.”
All the competitors committed to an intense training regime in preparation for the next Rugby Olympics.
Attached Picture: Henneman on the podium during the singing of the National Anthem.
