Isadora Cerullo (born 24 March 1991) is a Brazilian-American rugby sevens player.

Early life and education

Cerullo was raised in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. Her parents immigrated to the United States from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the last years of the country’s

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

which lasted from 1964 to 1985. She is one of four children and a triplet, with two brothers the same age and one older brother. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil. Cerullo graduated in 2009 from

William G. Enloe High School William G. Enloe High School, also known as Enloe Magnet High School or Enloe High School, is a public magnet high school offering Gifted & Talented and International Baccalaureate programs located in eastern Raleigh, North Carolina, United Stat ...

, where she was a member of the varsity soccer and cross country teams. She went on to attend

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

to study medicine and was a member of the rugby team and a writer for the

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

, graduating in 2013. While a student at Columbia, she worked as an

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

Career

Cerullo was recruited to play internationally while a member of Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club. Cerullo moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

to play rugby professionally. She won a bronze medal at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

as a member of the

Brazil women's national rugby sevens team Brazil v. Great Britain The Brazil women's national rugby sevens team has appeared in the Olympics, the Rugby World Cup, the Women's Sevens Series, and other competitions. Brazil has won every regional championship in South America. Their team n ...

. She was selected for the Brazil women's rugby sevens team to compete in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Brazil's women's rugby team placed ninth at the 2016 Olympics.

Personal life

Following the final of the women's rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cerullo's partner of two years, Marjorie Yuri Enya, walked onto the field at

Deodoro Stadium Deodoro Stadium is a temporary stadium at Deodoro Modern Pentathlon Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium hosted rugby sevens and modern pentathlon events during the 2016 Summer Olympics. The stadium served as the venue for the seven-a-sid ...

and publicly asked Cerullo to marry her. The proposal was widely reported in the media, with Cerullo being the first athlete to accept a marriage proposal at the Olympics. The couple currently lives in

. Cerullo is a feminist.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerullo, Isadora 1991 births Living people American feminists American sportspeople of Brazilian descent Brazilian feminists Brazil international rugby sevens players Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Female rugby sevens players LGBT people from North Carolina Brazilian LGBT sportspeople American LGBT sportspeople LGBT rugby union players LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people Olympic rugby sevens players of Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens players at the 2015 Pan American Games South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in rugby sevens Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina Triplets William G. Enloe High School alumni Competitors at the 2018 South American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2019 Pan American Games Columbia College (New York) alumni Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Brazilian female rugby union players Brazil international women's rugby sevens players Brazilian rugby sevens players