Celia Quansah is an English rugby sevens player who plays for Leicester Tigers Women. She was selected as a member of the Great Britain women’s national rugby sevens team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Born at Twickenham, England. Born to a Ghanaian father and English mother, Quansah grew up in Twickenham. She participated in athletics, winning the long jump event at the 2011 School Games, and represented England internationally in heptathlon, competing at the British Championships against Jessica Ennis-Hill. Whilst at university, she took up rugby. After playing for six months, she was invited to join the England Sevens programme for 2018/19, and played for the winning Great Britain team at the 2019 Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

She was selected as a member of the Great Britain women’s national rugby sevens team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was named in the England squad for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women’s tournament held in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2022.

Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Celia Quansah – an exceptionally talented and accomplished English rugby sevens Olympic athlete. Here she talks about her fitness journey and the success story.

Namita Nayyar:

You were born in Twickenham, England. You participated in athletics, winning the long jump event at the 2011 School Games, and represented England internationally in heptathlon. While at university, took up rugby and after playing for six months, were invited to join the England Sevens programme for 2018-19, and played for the winning Great Britain team at the 2019 Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament. This later propelled your career to the height where you have been at the top of English women’s rugby. Tell us more about your professional journey of exceptional hard work, tenacity, and endurance?

Celia Quansah:

I’ve always loved sport, growing up I would try anything I had the opportunity to. At primary school I was introduced to sports like tag rugby, cricket and athletics. I think being exposed to sport at a young age developed the competitive nature in me and I got so much enjoyment from it, which never went away really.

I started playing rugby because I was desperate for a new challenge, and felt like I wasn’t going to unlock my full potential in Athletics, but I said to myself I was only going to do it if I was going to play for England, I wanted to be the best, so that was in my head from the moment I picked up a rugby ball. It was a steep learning curve being thrown into an international setup with very little rugby knowledge, so that took a lot of confidence and hard work.

I picked up a lot of niggles (injuries) early on, as my body wasn’t used to the demands of the new sport, but after a year or so I was able to play freely and had a good stint being injury free. That was when I really saw my progression accelerate and I found myself playing on the world stage in front of thousands of fans in some of the biggest stadiums around the world, which are moments I will never forget.

In 2021, at the top of my game post Tokyo Olympics, I ruptured my first ACL. This was my first ‘big’ injury and it was devastating. When it happened, I remember laying on the pitch while the physio assessed me, and counting ahead 9 months (the average time it takes to return from an ACL injury) which took me to a week before our first match at the Commonwealth Games.

In that moment I knew I was going to do everything I could to get myself back for that tournament. After talks with my medical team to discuss the risks, we decided we would throw the kitchen sink at it, and against the odds, I returned to playing after 7 months and was selected for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. A dream comes true.

Unfortunately after a short 6 months back on the pitch, at the Cape Town HSBC World Series tournament, I was high tackled, and dislocated my other knee causing significant injuries including an ACL and MCL rupture and Meniscus tear. At first, my mindset was similar to my first ACL, ‘we go again’ I thought. But over time, this injury took its toll, I felt so hard done by and questioned a lot, why me? I struggled in a camp based program, to get the support I needed and wanted which affected me massively over time. I was however, extremely fortunate to have the support from external sources such as The RPA and The IRU.

After multiple scans, two surgeries, injections and countless physio and psychology sessions, I returned to playing on the HSBC World Series in February 2024 where I was able to start my journey back to loving rugby again. Still, 10 months later, I’m on that journey back to full confidence, full fitness and full enjoyment for the game, but I’m determined to get there.

Namita Nayyar:

It is a dream for a rugby player to play in the Olympics. You were selected as a member of the Great Britain women’s national rugby sevens team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tell us more about this spectacular achievement of yours?

Celia Quansah:

Being an Olympian has always been my ultimate dream, it sounds silly but growing up I knew I was going to make it happen. I did think it was going to be in athletics, but life took me on a different path. A lot of rugby players actually dream of playing in a World Cup, rather than an Olympics as that has traditionally been the ‘pinnacle’. However for me, the Olympics were always my dream and it still feels strange to be able to say I’ve achieved it.

Like anything, it becomes normal over time, but it’s really lovely when people remind you of how special it really is. When you’re in the elite sport bubble, things that aren’t that normal become normal, like being an Olympian? Haha. I am so, so grateful for the coaches who took a chance on me as a 21 year old heptathlete, and in 4 years, nurtured me into a player worthy of an Olympic shirt. It really was one of the best experiences of my life.

Full Interview is Continued on Next Page

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