Emma Tonegato

Emma Tonegato is a semi-professional Australian rugby footballer. She has represented Australia in rugby sevens and rugby league. Born in Wollongong, New South Wales and playing for The Tribe at rugby union club level, she debuted for Australia in November 2013. As of December 2015, she had 12 caps. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Tonegato made her debut for the Australian Women’s side in the opening leg of the 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai in November 2013. She has been a regular on the team since. She comes from a rugby league background and competed at the 2013 Women’s Rugby League World Cup. She has the ability to play on the wing or in the centres. She was named in the tournament Dream Team for the Amsterdam leg of the Sevens World Series in May 2015. Representative Honours include New South Wales, NSW Schoolgirls (2013) and the Youth Olympic Festival (2013).

Tonegato was a member of Australia’s team at the 2016 Olympics, defeating New Zealand in the final to win the inaugural Olympic gold medal in the sport.

At the 2017 Australia Day Honours she received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.