Cancer survivor Jillion Potter becomes part of Olympic history

ON the field, she’s part of a seven-woman team chasing Olympic glory. Off the field, this athlete has overcome incredible obstacles to rise to the top of her sport.

Jillion Potter has persevered through numerous setbacks to get to Rio.

WHEN she’s on the field, Jillion Potter is one of a seven-woman team competing for Olympic glory in Rio. Off the field, she’s overcome incredible obstacles to rise to the top of her sport and be a part of history.

The 30-year-old rugby sevens star is currently leading the United States Women’s Eagles in the first-ever women’s Olympic rugby tournament. But her personal story of triumph is also something truly inspirational.

In 2010, Potter suffered a broken neck during a game against Canada that could have left her as a paraplegic, preventing her from competing in that year’s rugby union World Cup. Potter feared she would never play again, but was back on the field just one year later.

She then played in the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup with a tumour in her mouth that was later diagnosed as a rare Stage III synovial sarcoma. Chemotherapy and radiation followed and her lengthy battle with cancer drew numerous admirers, being dubbed US rugby’s “great survivor”.

“I was in shock,” Potter told CNN. “I had no idea that someone like me could get cancer. I eat well, I exercise, I take care of my body. I didn’t have a lot of time to think, but we found the best cancer centre and I started treatment immediately.”

Potter beat the illness and returned to the Women’s Eagles ahead of the 2015-16 sevens series.

“For me, [it’s] just kind of the never-give-up attitude,” the relentlessly energetic athlete told Sporting News. “In rugby, a common theme that happens in the game is just getting tackled, getting knocked down again and again, and just having to get back up and get back into the game or get back into life.

“Things are always going to knock you down, and just being able to get up from that and staying present and focusing on what you can control will really help you get over those challenges.”

Celebrating end of treatment with @carolfabrizio ! Truly an amazing week to get away. On the way back home this a.m. pic.twitter.com/qDvpYCFqcz

— Jillion Potter (@jillppotts) April 10, 2015

The sportswoman from Austin, Texas began playing rugby at the University of New Mexico after playing basketball in high school, her official player profile reads. She was selected to the Women’s Junior All-Americans six months later and continued through the High Performance Development Pathway until making her Eagles debut in 2007.

Women’s team head coach Richie Walker said it was “quite an honour” to coach Potter and that “she has made the team stronger”.

Potter credits her wife, Carol Fabrizio, with helping her through her life-changing trauma. The couple met in 2011 and married in 2013. She describes her wife of three years as “my biggest supporter.”

Team USA played top-ranked Australia on Sunday, resulting in a 12-all draw in their last pool match. Unfortunately their 5-0 loss to New Zealand on Sunday means they won’t bring home a medal, but can finish between fifth and eighth place on Monday.

The Aussie girls took on Canada on Monday in the semi-finals, beating them 17-5. They will now face New Zealand for the gold medal.

“I’m proud to be here representing my country. I’m happy to be alive, and I just cherish every single moment, every single second, and really take it all in,” Potter told the Denver Post ahead of this week’s matches.

Rugby returned to the Olympics for the first time since the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics, and this year is the first time women’s rugby has been part of the Olympic program.

Jillion Potter of Team USA.

USA's Jillion Potter during the match against Australia.

Originally published as Cancer survivor Jillion Potter becomes part of Olympic history