Melissa Rippon
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Melissa Alison Rippon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 January 1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 169 cm (5 ft 7 in) (2008) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb) (2008) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Water polo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Women's team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Melissa Alison Rippon (born 20 January 1981 in Sydney) is an Australian water polo player. Her sister is Rebecca Rippon and her step-sister is Kate Gynther, both of whom have been members of Australia's national water polo team and competed at the Olympics. She plays for the Brisbane Barracudas who compete in the National Water Polo League. She represented Australia in water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and at the 2012 Summer Olympics winning bronze medals at both of the latter two. She has earned a bronze medal at the 2010 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup, and a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Rippon was born on 20 January 1981 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is 169 cm (5 ft 7 in) and weighs 70 kilograms (150 lb). She has a sister, Rebecca Rippon, and a step-sister, Kate Gynther, who also represented Australia in water polo. Her mother died in 2000 as a result of breast cancer. She was able to spend additional time with her mother because she did not compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics as a result of an injury. Her father remarried in 2002, which is when Gynther became her step-sister. She and Gynther became inseparable and have remained that way since their parents became married. As a member of the junior national team, she sat in the front row with her father and watched Australia win the first women's gold medal in water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2002, she moved to Brisbane. Her father moved to the area in 2003 and she and Gynther lived with their parents in Oxley, Queensland.
Rippon started playing water polo because her sister played the sport, and had a scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport in 2002. In 2006, she had an injury that mean she was unable to compete internationally for a while.
Rippon plays club water polo for the Brisbane Barracudas who compete in the National Water Polo League. She was with the team in 2008 and 2011. The annual match between Breakers and Barracudas is one the Courier Mail considers a grudge match. She participated in the 2008 edition with her team. She was with the team for the 2012 season. In 2000, she injured her wrist and this injury made it impossible for her to make the national squad that competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics, In 2008, she competed in the Women's International Series. though she was a member of the training squad.
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