Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green's sad revelation amid return to rugby as a man
Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green can recount attempts at suicide before making the decision to transition from a woman to a man three years ago and coming out of rugby retirement in 2025.
A former women's rugby sevens champion at the 2016 Rio games, Green recalled 'being at death's doorstep' following a series of spiralling life events.
After returning from Brazil, Green's mother Yolanta was diagnosed and lost her battle with cancer. Compounding shortly after, the star seven's player who scored in the gold medal winning clash four years prior was left out of the squad for the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite a stint in the NRLW with the New Zealand Warriors in 2020, Green was left devastated after missing selection for the Olympic title defence.
Green retired from professional sport in 2022, walking away at the time as the top try scorer (141) and points scorer (739) in Australian Rugby Seven's history.
'In that very moment, I was like, I am a complete failure,' Green said to A Current Affair.
You can watch Ella Green open up about her struggles in the player above.
'On top of the pressures of being a professional athlete, I was caring for my mum with a terminal illness for many years.
'Attempts to end my life, that's probably what made me start to think I should probably start prioritising myself.'
It was around the same time Green and partner Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts were about to welcome their daughter Waitui.
Shortly after Green made the decision to transition that year, but only went public with the move in 2024 due to fear of backlash.
The 32-year-old then made global headlines at the time being the first known Olympian to transition.
'People that transition are not accepted in many spaces and they are bullied. Me telling people would just be like, 'I'm next.''
Fast forward to March this year and Green decided it was time to get the boots back on after a four-year absence from footy.
After the struggles of the past years, Green admitted joining the Sydney Convicts in the men's NSW Suburban Rugby Competition was a very close career second, 'if not on par' to the Gold medal match at the Olympics.
'It was me regaining my power back to myself and reminding myself of who I am, what I do best,' Green said.
'I was probably equally as nervous as I was to stand in the tunnel for the Rio Olympics.
'I don't think I ever really changed. This has always been me.'
However, while the response since returning to the field has been overwhelmingly positive, Green said there is still an inherent lack of understanding and acceptance of trans athletes in sport.
'What I've noticed is that people online have more of a problem against trans women,' Green continued.
'Where a lot of this harm is coming from is the unknown.
'People can have opinions but if it's at the cost of someone's life, identity and self, what good is that doing?
'Trans people should be able to play sports, yes. Take away 'trans,' should a 'person' be able to play sport? Yes.'
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