Zimbabwe-born Dominique du Toit has been named in the Australia women’s rugby sevens team for the Olympic Games in Paris later this month.
The 27-year-old Du Toit will feature in her second Olympic Games after her debut in Tokyo.
Australia’s women’s team enters Paris as the world series champions after edging Tokyo Olympic gold medalist New Zealand in the semifinals of the series finale last month and then beating France for the title.
The women’s team has been grouped with Ireland, South Africa and Britain in the 12-team Olympic tournament from July 28-30.
Zimbabwean-born Dominique du Toit moved to Australia with her family at a young age and settled in Queensland. In 2015, she was ushered into the rugby sevens program after a series of stunning performances at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, where Australia beat Canada for the gold.
The lightning-quick winger scored eight tries throughout the campaign, including a remarkable hat-trick against Canada.
During the 2017-18 Sevens World Series Circuit, Dominique gained a cap in all five legs and at the end of the 2018 World Sevens Series, Dominique was selected for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Australian side claimed silver on home soil after falling to New Zealand in the final, 17-12.
Throughout the 2018-19 World Sevens Series, Dominique played three of the legs in Colorado, Dubai and Sydney. She scored two tries in Colorado and five in Dubai.
Dominique made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Australia would see progression out of the group stage of the tournament after victories over Japan and China.
This set up a quarter-final tie against Fiji, that would see Australia fall short of consecutive medals, losing 14-12 and finishing fifth overall at the Games.
At her second Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham in 2022, Dominique and the Australian team upgraded to gold, beating Fiji in the final. She was also a member of the team that won the 2021-22 World Rugby Sevens Series title and the Rugby Sevens World Cup in South Africa.
Australia finished second in the 2022-23 World Rugby Sevens Series, with New Zealand taking the title, and are in good form in the 2023-24 series.
Dominique has a bachelor of media and communications from Macquarie University in Sydney.