New Zealand's two-time Olympic rugby gold medalist Woodman-Wickliffe retires, again

STEVE McMORRAN Thu, February 26, 2026 at 5:35 AM UTC

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FILE - Portia Woodman-Wickliffe of New Zealand in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah, File) ()

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand women's rugby star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is retiring for a second time at the age of 34.

The two-time World Women's Player of the Year who won gold medals in rugby sevens at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics announced her decision Thursday.

Woodman-Wickliffe came out of a short retirement to play for New Zealand's Black Ferns at the Women's World Cup in Britain last year.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent my country, my iwi (tribe), my hapū and my whānau (family) one last time on the World Cup stage, a moment I will cherish forever," she said in a statement. “As I step into this next chapter of my life, I feel both excited and a little nervous, but I’m ready.”

Woodman-Wickliffe excelled at track and netball before switching to rugby in 2012, competing at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 when rugby sevens became an Olympic sport for the first time. New Zealand won the silver medal that year.

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Her father and uncle both were All Blacks.

She played 241 times for New Zealand on the World Sevens Series, scoring 256 tries and in 2020 was named the women's sevens player of the previous decade.

Woodman-Wickliffe was also a member of New Zealand teams which won the Rugby World Cup in 2017 and 2022.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

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Source: “AOL Sports”