Charity Williams will make her third Olympic appearance with Team Canada women’s rugby sevens team and her teammates are relying on her seasoned experience. From ninth place in the SVNS Series in 2023 to a fifth place finish this year, the women’s team has only grown stronger. Here is what you need to know:Â
Hometown: Toronto
Sport: Rugby
Background: In 2013, Williams was named to the Women’s Maple Leafs roster for the Tobago International Rugby Sevens Tournament at age 17. The following year, she was named to the Canadian Women’s Sevens Youth Olympic team where they went on to finish in second place at the Games in Nanjing, China. Williams made her Canada Women’s Sevens Team debut during the 2014-2015 World Rugby Women’s Sevens World Series season at Sao Paulo Sevens.
Williams finished the 2015-2016 Sevens Series by performing in the final three tournaments for Canada. At Rio 2016, she made her Olympic debut with Team Canada in the first women’s Olympic rugby tournament.
Despite suffering a shoulder injury requiring surgery and missing half of the 2017 season, Williams rebounded in 2018. She became a member of the Canadian team that finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and competed at the World Rugby Cup Sevens in San Francisco.
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Over the course of the 2019-2020 World Rugby Sevens Series, Williams played in 124 career matches. At Tokyo 2020, she was the number two scorer, scoring five tries for a total of 25 points, which contributed to Canada’s performance in the Olympic Games.
Career highlights: Charity Williams made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016 where she scored one try as Canada took bronze in women’s rugby sevens.
Throughout the 2019-2020 season, Williams achieved third all-time among Canadian women in points (a total of 350) and tries (a total of 70) in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
Where it all started: Williams began playing rugby at age 14 as a freshman in highschool. This is where she fell in love with the physicality of the sport. Williams met former Team Canada player Megan Gibbs, who inspired her to one day represent Canada. Two years later, Williams made the national team.
Fun fact: Before each game, Williams gets in the zone by closing her eyes and imagining three things she’ll accomplish on the pitch.
Olympic event date: Rugby sevens (#W05) versus Fiji, rugby sevens (#W12) versus New Zealand, and rugby sevens (#W17) versus China. All games will take place on July 29.
We’re profiling more athletes during the 2024 Paris Olympics; refer here for more coverage.Â
