At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Sarah Levy will be among a myriad of Jewish athletes smashing the stereotype that Jews aren’t athletic. And for Sarah, when we say “smashing,” we mean it.
Sarah will represent the United States in rugby, one of the most physically aggressive and demanding sports. In order to win, Sarah and her teammates have to be fast and agile on their feet, have good hand-eye coordination and must be strong enough to take down other players or withstand tackles made against them. The sport is intense and sometimes bloody, and we can’t wait to watch Sarah compete.
Here are 18 things to know about the Team USA rugby winger.
1. Sarah was born on Dec. 27, 1995 in Cape Town, South Africa to a Jewish family.
2. She’s a Capricorn!
3. Her family later moved to San Diego, CA where she grew up.
4. Her paternal great-grandfather was South African Springbok rugby star Louis Babrow. Brabow famously had to decide whether or not he would play a match in New Zealand on Yom Kippur in 1937. Ultimately he decided to play.
“I’m a South African Jew, not a New Zealand Jew and New Zealand is eight hours before South Africa in time. When we are playing our holy day will not yet have dawned in South Africa,” he said at the time.
5. She attended preschool at the San Diego JCC and attended Jewish summer camp Camp Jaycee.
6. Look at this adorable transformation from toddler with a rugby ball to collegiate rugby player!
7. If it wasn’t already obvious, she comes from an athletic family.
“Every time I was back from college, it would be okay, let’s go to the JCC and it would be me, my dad, mom, and little sister, Ilana, all going to the gym at the same time, but all of us doing our own little things,” Sarah said in an interview.
8. Sarah participated in the JCC Maccabi Games in 2010 and 2012, playing soccer.
“It was such a carefree time and I just recall having so much fun playing my favorite sport at the time, but especially the social experience of coming together with Jewish teens from all around the world,” she said in an interview.
9. Sarah didn’t realize rugby or her rugby lineage was a big deal until she visited family in South Africa.
“Rugby isn’t a big sport in the U.S. so I didn’t think about my family’s legacy as a huge deal. My dad would just watch rugby and… I didn’t know the rules or anything,” she told The Cape Jewish Chronicle. “Then, going to South Africa to visit my family, that’s when I realized this is a huge sport… so I didn’t really know the extent of it until I started playing and then all my dad’s older relatives started talking to me about what their family has done and how involved they were. That’s when I realized what a big deal this was.”
10. Sarah first started playing rugby at Northeastern University. She graduated from the school in 2018 with a Bachelors of Science in Health Science.
11. She made her USA women’s national rugby team debut in 2018 in a match against England. She then made her debut on the rugby sevens pitch for the United States in 2022.
12. Sarah has also played club rugby with the San Diego Surfers and New York Rugby Club.
13. Please enjoy this highlight reel of Sarah playing rugby.
14. A key to Sarah’s success was actually being left off the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics roster. Instead, she was invited to intensive training sessions for Olympic prospects.
“This is where I got so much better,” Levy explained in an interview.
15. Sarah received a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Saint Augustines in 2023.
16. She was announced as a member of the U.S. women’s rugby seven’s team on June 17, 2024.
“A year ago, I didn’t think I would be here,” Levy told NGN Magazine. “Thinking that I was at the bottom of the [USA Rugby] training group and then turning that around with a lot of hard work, I think I would be the most surprising person on this roster right now.”
17. Levy and the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team have high hopes for Paris 2024.
“We’re going for gold,” Levy explained. “And if not that, then a podium finish is what we want — we truly believe in our team to do that.”
18. Sarah already has her eyes set on making the 2028 LA Olympics roster!
