Kristi Kirshe

Kristi Kirshe ( ; born October 14, 1994) is an American rugby sevens player who has played for the U.S. Women's Rugby Sevens team since January 2019. She played in both the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she won a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. Women's Rugby Sevens team. She was the only player to play every minute of every game for the USA team.

Early life Kirshe was introduced to soccer from a young age, playing with the Franklin Youth soccer program at 4 years old. Both of her parents, Greg Kirshe and Kathleen Kirshe, played soccer for Cornell.

Rugby career After graduation, Kirshe began working at Boston based law firm Ropes and Gray. Kirshe soon found herself missing the thrill of competitive sports and decided to try rugby at the behest of Grace Conley, a high school teammate of Kirshe's and a rugby player at Boston University. Within 6 months, Kirshe realized she was capable of playing rugby professionally. In 2021, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 2022, She was again selected for the to compete at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. In 2024, she competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and won a bronze medal.