KICKING GOALS

THE ATHLETE IS SHOWING THE WORLD HOW WOMEN ARE CHANGING THE GAME

- Sara Tapia

If the world has witnessed anything in the past few months, thanks largely to the Matildas incredible performance at the FIFA Women's World Cup, it's that women's sports can no longer be ignored. And it's a momentum Chloe Dalton wants to keep going.

"It was just this amazing thing to witness," she tells WHO. "People weren't watching women play soccer. They were just watching the Matildas play and be really good at what they do."

In her new book, Girls Don't Play Sport, Chloe recalls kicking a rugby ball around during the half-time break of her brothers' games as a kid when she was told she should join a team. "Girls don't play rugby," she replied matter-of-factly. Little did Chloe know then that just 16 years later she would go on to win an Olympic gold medal playing Rugby Sevens for Australia. “I’ve got an older and younger brother, so a lot of my competitive instinct was forged in the backyard,” she says of growing up.