From Philadelphia to the Podium: The Power of Focus and Courage

Source: Ariana Ramsey 

I never imagined that rugby, a sport I did not even know existed until high school, would be the thing that would carry me to the Olympic stage and help me win a bronze medal, the first in USA Rugby history. My path here was anything but straightforward. It began in Philadelphia, where I was raised by my great-grandmother and grandmother while my young parents tried to find their footing. By the time I entered kindergarten, I had already seen things most children should never witness, including watching someone get shot on the way home from school. That moment changed my life. My mom moved us to Norristown soon after, and with it came a chance at a different future.

In school, I thrived. I was tested into the gifted program and embraced my inner nerd. At ten years old, my life took a different turn when I begged to try out for cheerleading. This was the start of my athletic career. The energy of the gym, the tumbling, the stunts, it was electric. Within two months I learned to backflip, and competitive cheer became my world for the next six years.

Sports gave me a new identity and opened a whole new world of opportunity for me. Sport showed me I could be strong, exceptional, and unstoppable.

Source: Ariana Ramsey

Cheerleading led to track, where I broke school records, wrestled boys and actually beat them, and dabbled in basketball. I loved the challenge of pushing myself in new ways, but nothing felt like home. Then, by chance, rugby showed up. A senior at my school invited my best friend and I to practice, and after months of brushing her off, my best friend and I finally went. At first, it was awkward and confusing. The rules made little sense to me and practice felt like chaos. But then we scrimmaged. The first time I touched the ball, I did what came naturally: I ran fast. Before I knew it, I had outpaced everyone and crossed into the try zone. My teammates laughed and shouted in disbelief, and my coach’s eyes lit up. At that moment, I realized my speed was more than just a track skill, it was a weapon. Suddenly I felt a spark.

Rugby was different. It gave me both the community of a team and the freedom to shine as an individual. Rugby felt like a sport where I could express all of my athletic strengths in one sport, and it was fun!

My coach saw my potential and invited me to join a club team called Atlantis. I traveled to Paris to play for the first time playing internationally. I played at NAI7s, one of the biggest youth tournaments and I played with everything I had. When I walked off the field, a college coach approached me with my first offer. Until that moment, I had no idea rugby could take me anywhere. Now I saw a door opening. I stopped running track and gave rugby everything.
By junior year, I was visiting colleges, and when I stepped onto Dartmouth’s campus, I knew I had found my place. I earned a full scholarship to one of the top schools in the world thanks to a sport I had only discovered three years earlier.

But life had even bigger plans.

In my sophomore year, during the pandemic, I got the call. Would I take a year off school to train for a shot at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Team? I was only 20 years old, the youngest on the roster, and surrounded by women who had been playing together for years. I doubted myself every day, my age, my abilities, my worth. But my teammates saw greatness in me even when I could not. Against my fears, I made the team.

Tokyo was bittersweet. I tore my ACL, and we placed sixth. The stands were empty. Yet, stepping into the Olympic Village for the first time, wearing “USA” on my chest, was unforgettable. It was proof that no matter how uncertain I felt, I belonged at the highest level.

When I returned to Dartmouth, people treated me like a celebrity. I finished my degree in Economics with a minor in Mandarin Chinese, captained my team, led them to a national championship, and left with no regrets. But I was not done. I moved straight to the Olympic Training Center with my eyes set on Paris 2024.

This time, I thought I was ready. I had the experience, the confidence, and the years of training. What I was not prepared for was the weight of pressure.

The truth is, nothing compares to the mental battle of the Olympics. No practice session can simulate the crushing expectation of the world stage. For me, old feelings of loneliness and grief resurfaced, especially missing my dad who had unexpectedly passed away years before.

My sports psychologist gave me an exercise that changed my life. He had me hold a cup of water in my outstretched hand while he pelted balled-up paper at me. I tried swatting the balls away, spilling water everywhere, and told him it made me feel even more stressed. Then he told me to try again, but this time to focus only on keeping the cup steady. The balls still came, but no water spilled. The lesson was simple. The key is focus. I could not stop the negative thoughts from coming, but I could choose not to give them my energy. I could choose to stay locked in on the moment.

That shift in focus carried me through Paris. It carried my teammates too. And together, through courage, focus, and relentless belief, we made history. When the final whistle blew and the scoreboard showed our victory, time seemed to freeze. My teammates rushed onto the field and we embraced, crying and screaming.

For the first time in history, USA Rugby had a medal, and I was part of it. The bronze hung heavy around my neck, but the weight I felt most was pride. Pride in the years of struggle, in the long practices, in the self-doubt I had overcome, and in the courage that had carried me to that moment.

Source: Ariana Ramsey

Looking back, it was not just speed or skill that got me here. It was resilience from a childhood where nothing was certain. It was courage to try a new sport, to wrestle boys, to step into spaces where I did not feel like I belonged. It was focus that kept me from drowning under the pressure of the world stage.

Now, as I set my sights on LA 2028, my goal is clear. Gold. More than that, my mission is to show others what I learned. The obstacles you face are not stop signs. They are invitations to rise. They are the very things that shape you into someone capable of making history.
If there is one thing my story proves, it is this. You do not have to start with perfect circumstances. You do not have to have it all figured out. You just have to have the courage to begin, the resilience to keep going, and the focus to rise above distractions. With those three things, you can turn even the most unexpected path into a journey worth remembering.

Source: Team USA