She proudly cites her Jewish upbringing as a key driver of her success (Image: USA Rugby)[Missing Credit]
Yet for Levy, it is precisely her Jewish upbringing that has helped her make it so far in the sport she loves. “In Judaism, I think a lot of people like to be successful in whatever field they go into. For me that happened to be rugby", she said, adding: “I owe a lot of my success just to working really hard, like going to the gym every day on my own without anyone watching me.
"I don’t really consider myself as naturally athletic as some of my teammates but I think where I might come short, I make up for in working hard on and off the field.
"If anything, I think in Jewish stereotypes, working hard is a big value of us – in that sense I don’t feel like I’m breaking any stereotypes.”
And she joked that she might not be breaking the mould as much as might seem as a child of two doctors juggling her rugby career with her studies as a doctor of physical therapy, from which she expects to graduate later this year (in fact, she called into our interview from her car having just finished a class).
The US team rocketed to stardom after a bronze medal at Paris 2024 (Image: Getty)Getty Images
However, she remains immensely thankful for the love and support of her parents as she pursues a career in sport, chuckling: “I think my dad [who hails from rugby-mad South Africa] wanted to live vicariously through me. I think he always would have loved to have played rugby professionally [like his father, who represented the Springboks].
“Maybe my mum was a little nervous for me from day one because she didn’t understand it. She’s American so she didn’t understand rugby at first but now she’s my biggest fan… she follows [USA Rugby] more religiously than I do and she knows everything that’s going on with my teammates.”
So what’s next for Levy as, aged 29, she is in what most rugby brains would consider the peak period of her career? Well there’s one prize that she hopes to add to her trophy cabinet above all else: A gold medal at the 2028 Olympics, which will be hosted in her home state of California.
She went on: “Going to Paris was so incredible...it made me really excited to see what LA could do.
"I’m just so excited to be on the big stage for rugby in the US, we don’t really get many opportunities for that.
"I can’t wait to see the support we get in LA.”
Levy has now set her sights on a gold medal at her home Olympics (Image: Alex Ho)[Missing Credit]
Support that is sure to turn out, in no small part thanks to the overnight celebrity sensation of one of Levy’s teammates, Ilhona Maher, who has become one of the biggest stars in world rugby in the past year.
"The way Ilhona has blown up from one Olympics to the next...it was just so cool to see. Everything she’s doing, every week, every month there’s a new thing she’s doing that is breaking another barrier.”
But while Maher is undoubtedly shining bright, the shrewdest rugby fans will no doubt have their eyes on Levy’s rise to her own superstar status. For her, though, the most significant thing is inspiring the next generation of young girls (perhaps even young Jewish girls) to follow in her footsteps: “I just find it so important to play as many sports as you can...to find a sport that gets you excited, whatever it is.
"Just trying to find a community that you feel connected to is so important as a younger girl. I wish I had found rugby earlier...what I gained from all those teammates and friendships in whatever sport is something that really formed me."
And could Levy join the growing trend of players code switching between Sevens and 15s, having previously represented the USA and the Barbarians in the latter, to potentially set her eyes on World Cup glory? On that she remained coy, saying: “I’m really happy with Sevens right now. I tried to dip my toes in both but with school it was just too much.
“For now I’m just focusing on school and if, when I’m done, I feel unfulfilled and I really want to go back to 15s, that’s something I am interested in, but there are only so many things you can do at once.”
