Latest news with #VanessaTurnbullRoberts
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green's sad revelation amid return to rugby as a man
Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green can recount attempts at suicide before making the decision to transition from a woman to a man three years ago and coming out of rugby retirement in 2025. A former women's rugby sevens champion at the 2016 Rio games, Green recalled 'being at death's doorstep' following a series of spiralling life events. After returning from Brazil, Green's mother Yolanta was diagnosed and lost her battle with cancer. Compounding shortly after, the star seven's player who scored in the gold medal winning clash four years prior was left out of the squad for the Tokyo Olympics. Despite a stint in the NRLW with the New Zealand Warriors in 2020, Green was left devastated after missing selection for the Olympic title defence. Green retired from professional sport in 2022, walking away at the time as the top try scorer (141) and points scorer (739) in Australian Rugby Seven's history. 'In that very moment, I was like, I am a complete failure,' Green said to A Current Affair. You can watch Ella Green open up about her struggles in the player above. 'On top of the pressures of being a professional athlete, I was caring for my mum with a terminal illness for many years. 'Attempts to end my life, that's probably what made me start to think I should probably start prioritising myself.' It was around the same time Green and partner Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts were about to welcome their daughter Waitui. Shortly after Green made the decision to transition that year, but only went public with the move in 2024 due to fear of backlash. The 32-year-old then made global headlines at the time being the first known Olympian to transition. 'People that transition are not accepted in many spaces and they are bullied. Me telling people would just be like, 'I'm next.'' Fast forward to March this year and Green decided it was time to get the boots back on after a four-year absence from footy. After the struggles of the past years, Green admitted joining the Sydney Convicts in the men's NSW Suburban Rugby Competition was a very close career second, 'if not on par' to the Gold medal match at the Olympics. 'It was me regaining my power back to myself and reminding myself of who I am, what I do best,' Green said. 'I was probably equally as nervous as I was to stand in the tunnel for the Rio Olympics. 'I don't think I ever really changed. This has always been me.' However, while the response since returning to the field has been overwhelmingly positive, Green said there is still an inherent lack of understanding and acceptance of trans athletes in sport. 'What I've noticed is that people online have more of a problem against trans women,' Green continued. 'Where a lot of this harm is coming from is the unknown. 'People can have opinions but if it's at the cost of someone's life, identity and self, what good is that doing? 'Trans people should be able to play sports, yes. Take away 'trans,' should a 'person' be able to play sport? Yes.'
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Grace Tame's contract with Nike under threat just six months after she was made an ambassador as sports brand launches probe into her views on Israel
Grace Tame 's role as a Nike ambassador may be at risk after the sportswear brand started a probe into her views on Israel. The former Australian of the Year is an outspoken advocate for survivors of sexual assault and has shared several posts on social media in solidarity with Palestinians. Nike released a statement on Monday stating Tame's team were being spoken to, although it's not been confirmed exactly what sparked the probe. 'Nike does not stand for any form of discrimination,' a spokeswoman told The Australian. 'We take this matter very seriously and are in touch with Grace's team to understand the matter further.' Tame has been an ambassador for Nike for only six months after she was appointed by Nike in January. The Australian athlete has been vocal in her support of Palestinians and last month joined a panel of speakers at the Feminism in the Time of Gaza forum. At least 450 people heard from four speakers at The Edge in Federation Square, Melbourne at a forum organised by the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN). Tame said this was the first time she had spoken publicly about Palestine and revealed she had been asked not to speak about the Gaza-Israel conflict at several events. 'Empathy should have no boundaries,' Tame, who won the 2024 Victorian Great Ocean Road Ultramarathon, said. Tame joined Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, a lawyer and human rights advocate and Randa Abdel-Fattah, a writer and advocate for Palestinian people. Jordana Silverstein, a senior research fellow at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne, also sat on the panel. On Monday, the same day Nike released a statement, Tame shared a quote from climate activist Greta Thunberg who is on board a Freedom Flotilla aid mission sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel's blockade. 'We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.' The World Health Organisation has warned Gaza is at risk of famine as a result of the blockade. Three-quarters of Gaza's population is at risk of suffering 'emergency' or 'catastrophic' food deprivation. Last week, Tame reposted a statement on Instagram from Palestinian writer Mohammed el-Kurd, in which he critcised journalists who reported on the fatal shooting of an Israeli embassy couple in Washington DC as a 'random anti-Semitic attack'. Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when they were shot dead. Elias Rodriguez, who police say shouted 'free Palestine' after being taken into custody, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. In November 2023, Tame added her voice to Oxfam Australia's demand for a ceasefire in Gaza. Daily Mail Australia contacted Nike and Tame for comment. Tame had shared a gushing message in January after revealing she was the new ambassador for Nike. 'I couldn't be more excited to announce that I am officially an ambassador for Nike. This has been a long time in the making,' she wrote. She thanked her manager, Lauren Miller, and cousin Eloise Nairn-Smith, who founded the website Ritual Runners and who Tame called her 'coach and hero'.
