Alysha Corrigan and Team Canada capture women’s rugby sevens silver

The University of Prince Edward Island congratulates alumna Alysha Corrigan, a former UPEI Women’s Rugby student-athlete, who captured a silver medal with Team Canada’s rugby sevens women's team at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 30. 

The Canadian team was ranked fifth going into the Olympics but earned a 19-14 win in the quarter-final against France. That win moved Canada into the semifinals against the powerhouse team from Australia. After a tough first half, the Canadians came back with an astonishing 21-12 upset that sent them to the gold medal match against New Zealand later that day.

Corrigan, the 27-year-old daughter of Sonya Hooper and Art Corrigan, gave hometown fans reason to cheer in the gold medal match as she intercepted the ball to score a try with time running out in the first half, putting Canada up 12-7 on the number one team in the world. New Zealand went on to win 19-12, with Canada earning the silver medal, their best-ever finish in Olympic women’s rugby sevens.

Less than an hour after Canada defeated Australia in the women’s rugby sevens semifinal, Corrigan’s former teammates and coaches gathered in downtown Charlottetown to watch their friend compete for gold at the Paris Olympics.

Shannon Gillis-Atkins, the coach who recruited Corrigan to play at UPEI, said it was a powerful moment watching her score.

“I talked to her a couple weeks ago and she said, ‘I’m worried that I’m not fast enough,’” Gillis-Atkins said in an interview with CBC. “And I think she just proved she’s absolutely fast enough.”

Corrigan is the second Islander to win an Olympic medal at the summer games — and the first since 1912 when Bill Halpenny won bronze in pole-vaulting. She is also the second UPEI alumni to become an Olympic athlete. David “Eli” MacEachern played soccer for UPEI and competed in three Winter Olympics. He and Pierre Lueders won the gold medal in the two-man bobsleigh event (shared with Italy) at Nagano in 1998. 

Corrigan will host a rugby clinic at UPEI Alumni Field on August 11, which will include games, drills, and a question-and-answer session, along with presentation of some Team Canada swag.

The clinic is broken down into two age groups: 15-to 17-year-olds from 10:00 am to noon and 18-to 21-year-olds from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. For more information, email ACrugby16@gmail.com.

Congratulations from everyone at UPEI on your huge accomplishment, Alysha!