Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green has made a triumphant return to rugby, four years after retiring and undergoing a gender transition. For the 32-year-old former Rugby Sevens star, stepping back onto the field now as his authentic self ranks alongside the proudest moments of his sporting career.
Ellia was a standout player for Australia in the Women’s Rugby Sevens team that won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, famously scoring a try in the final against New Zealand. “It was everything that I had dreamed about as a child,” Ellia told A Current Affair. “I had written on my wall as a kid in primary school that I’d be an Olympian one day.”
Yet, after that high, came personal struggles. Missing out on selection for the Tokyo Olympics and the death of his mother from cancer were crushing blows. “In that very moment, I was like, I am a complete failure,” he said.
He eventually retired from professional sport in 2021, holding records as the top try scorer (141) and points scorer (739) in the Australian Rugby Sevens. It was then he took the space he needed to focus on his mental health and begin his transition to male.
“It was just the beginning of me being unapologetically myself,” Ellia said. “Why not just live the rest of your life exactly as you want to be? Because life is just too short to live it as something else.”
In 2022, Ellia and his partner, human rights advocate Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, welcomed their daughter, Waitui. Becoming a father reshaped his outlook. “I went from feeling like I’d lost everything… to ‘Nothing else matters.’ I’m constantly reminding myself, what do I want Waitui to see me as? What kind of role model?”
Later that year, Ellia publicly came out as transgender during the Bingham Cup, the international gay rugby tournament. In March 2025, he received a call from a former coach and decided to lace up his boots once again—this time joining the Sydney Convicts, Australia’s leading gay and inclusive rugby club.
Now playing in the men’s NSW Suburban Rugby Competition, Ellia says the experience rivals his Olympic success. “I was probably equally as nervous as I was to stand in the tunnel for the Rio Olympics,” he admitted.
Playing for the Convicts has become a powerful moment of personal reclamation. “It was me regaining my power back to myself and reminding myself of who I am, what I do best,” Ellia said. “I just hope that anything that I’ve shared can inspire someone… Know that the greatest thing you can do is to love yourself and be proud of it.”
