Nicole Elise Beck (born 28 May 1988) is a female Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

for Australia, Sydney and Sydney University. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Life

A former Australian touch football representative, Beck was selected by

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since th ...

coach Steve Hamson after just two games of 15-a-side rugby and made her international debut in the test match lost 36–3 to the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tourname ...

on 14 October 2008 at

Viking Park Viking Park is an 7,000 capacity (1,000 seated) multi-sport stadium located in the Tuggeranong Valley suburb Wanniassa, Canberra, Australia. It has a rectangular playing surface which is used primarily to host rugby union matches but additional ...

in Canberra. Only a few months before, Beck had been chosen to play with Australia Women's Sevens for the 2009 World Cup qualifiers scheduled on 25–26 July 2008 at

Apia Park Apia Park is a multi-function sports complex located in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Primarily used for rugby union events, Apia Park is the home stadium of the Samoa national rugby union team, Manu Samoa. It is also a venue for association footba ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. She scored a decisive try on full-time in the 22–15 win against New Zealand, claiming the Oceania Sevens champions title. The following year, Australia won the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...

defeating 15-10 New Zealand in a final started with a try by Beck in the second minute and ended in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

with a golden point strike by Shelly Matcham. Beck played an important role in Australia's third place at the

2010 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup was the sixth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in England. The International Rugby Board Executive Committee selected the host union following a recommendation from the Rugby World Cup Limit ...

, scoring 1 try, 11 conversions and 1 penalty, becoming one of the nominees for the 2010 IRB Women's Personality of the Year and pulling off a great try-saving tackle on Fiona Pocock during the semi-final against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was a member of

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

team at the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, defeating

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the final to win the inaugural Olympic gold medal in the sport. Beck currently studies a Bachelor of Educational Studies at

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explore ...

. At the

2017 Australia Day Honours The 2017 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2017 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove.Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

References

External links

Wallaroos Profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Nicole 1988 births Living people Australia women's international rugby union players Australian female rugby sevens players Australian female rugby union players Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Olympic rugby sevens players for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rugby union players from Wollongong Rugby union wings Touch footballers University of Wollongong alumni Australia international rugby sevens players Sportswomen from New South Wales Sydney University Football Club players Pacific Games silver medalists for Australia Pacific Games medalists in rugby sevens