Alex Sedrick’s marauding run to win the bronze medal for the United States women’s rugby sevens team is already drawing comparisons to an NFL legend.
With the United States down 12-7 to Australia in the dying seconds and deep within their own half, Sedrick received a toss and decided to go for it.
As two Aussie opponents tried to bring her down, Sedrick bulldozed Teagan Levi and had nothing but an open field in front of her.
Sedrick turned on the afterburners and ran nearly the length of the pitch to get the try which she then converted to seal a 14-12 win.
It’s the first time that an American rugby sevens team has medaled at the Olympic Games.
Alex Sedrick scored the winning try in the bronze medal match for the United States
Her try from deep within her own half led to a victory over Australia for the United States
Previously, the US men’s rugby union team upset France in the 1924 Paris games where they won the gold medal.
Players after the game were seen breaking down in emotions as they celebrated their famous victory.
As bronze medal winner Alena Olsen of Caledonia, Michigan put it, ‘The doubt that creeps into your head at every moment in a competition like this is so strong. You don’t want to put yourself out there, but we put ourselves out there for heartbreak. That’s the only way you can get joy like this, success like this, is if you put your heart out there to be broken.’
In the aftermath of the victory and the run, a number of people drew parallels to the famous ‘Beast Quake’ run made by former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.
For those unaware, in the NFC Wild Card game for the 2010 season, between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints, Seattle’s Lynch went on a lengthy scramble to the end zone that involved him shaking off multiple tacklers.
Lynch, whose nickname was ‘Beast Mode’ in his playing days, helped lead his team to victory with that scamper on that day.
The run earned the nickname ‘Beast Quake’ because it was also notable for the cheering of fans – which set off nearby seismographs and registered as a small tremor.
Some compared the run by Sedrick to the ‘Beast Quake’ run by Marshawn Lynch from 2011
This was the first medal for an American rugby sevens team ever in the Olympics
US star Ilona Maher (center) celebrates winning her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics
Earlier in the day, the Americans took on New Zealand to determine who would fight for the gold medal.
Unfortunately for the United States, they were defeated by the Black Ferns Sevens 24-12.
New Zealand would go on to win the gold medal, defeating Canada 19-12.
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