Alena Olsen

Alena Olsen ( ; born December 6, 1995) is an American rugby sevens player. She captains the Headliners women's team in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition.

In 2021, Olsen and some of her teammates released a video that urged fans to sign the Global Climate Pledge, an initiative by the United States Green Chamber of Commerce.

Olsen competed for the United States at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. They lost to France in the bronze medal final and finished fourth overall.

In 2024, Olsen competed for the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she and her team won a bronze medal, a first for Team USA Rugby Sevens.

Rugby career

College career Prior to starting her career at the University of Michigan at the age of 18, Olsen never played rugby before. One day on campus she attended a practice and was hooked. At Michigan, she earned All-American honors (2015, 2016) and was nominated to the Collegiate Rugby Championship Dream Team (2016, 2017).

National Sevens Career Olsen made her USA Rugby debut in Glendale 7s (2019) where the United States won the tournament, defeating Australia 26-7 in the final. Olsen also played in the 2022 Rugby World Cup (7s) in Cape Town, South Africa. The U.S. finished the tournament in fourth, falling to France in the bronze medal match.

The second stop of the circuit was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the Headliners dominated once again. After topping the Texas Team 20-19, the Headliners faced the Locals in the Finals. The Headliners continued their dominance against the Locals, winning 12-7. After accumulating the most points in the Eastern Conference, the Southern Headliners advanced to the Championship in Washington, D.C.

At the Championship, the Locals crushed the Headliners' hot streak, eliminating them from the title match. After an impressive start to the season, the Headliners ended the year in fourth place after falling, 10-7 to the Rocky Mountain Experts in the third-place match.

Statistics +TeamSeasonGPTriesPointsTacklesCarriesSouthern Headliners20236191415