Eagle River’s Kelter calls home to Alaska hot off Olympic medal win with U.S. Rugby

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - For as many rugby accomplishments that Alev Kelter had compiled in her decorated career, one still eluded the 33-year-old talent from Eagle River.

An Olympic medal.

That was until Tuesday morning.

Kelter put the U.S. on the board late in the first half and teammate Alex Sedrick scored the game-winning try as time expired, lifting the U.S. to a thrilling 14-12 victory over Australia to claim the bronze medal in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics.

“I’m just grateful,” Kelter told Alaska’s News Source on Tuesday. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. You know, we always say that it gets ... this is bittersweet. Not knowing if I’ll be back for another round, but just, yeah.

“Third time’s the charm, I guess.”

Earlier in the day, the U.S. fell for just the second time in the tournament in a 24-12 semifinal loss to powerhouse New Zealand. The U.S. posted a 2-1 record in pool play competition, earning wins over Brazil and Japan. The U.S. defeated Great Britain on Monday in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles — the nickname of the U.S. women — placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the last two Olympic Games following the discipline’s return to the event.

Prior to Tuesday, it had been exactly 100 years since a U.S. rugby team — men or women — had won an Olympic medal.

Kelter, who grew up playing soccer and hockey and competed for the Chugiak High School teams, explained after the match Tuesday how the U.S. women’s team came together to win the historic medal.

“We have a team that’s built a culture that every single day, we get to play with our best friends out there, and we have a couple of set core values,” Kelter said. “We call ourselves the ‘high women.’ It’s from a country song that talks about women of all walks of life that have come before us, that maybe have not been recognized. And so we each individually learned about our own high women and who motivates us.”

The excitement was also felt thousands of miles away in Anchorage.

Jami Almonte — vice president of the adult Alaska Rugby Union who directs the annual Midnight Sun 7′s tournament — told Alaska’s News Source that Kelter’s impact on the sport of rugby in Alaska has been immense and bringing home an Olympic medal should only grow the sport even more.

“I think she’s an excellent person for Alaskan girls, women, boys, men — everybody,” Almonte said. “Every Alaskan as far as like — talk about like the epitome of an athlete. One of the top athletes in the world and just humble and generous and gives back to her community.”

This is a developing story. Check back later for more information.

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