Rhian Wilkinson

Biography

Rhian Wilkinson is a three-time Olympian who won back-to-back bronze medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

After making her Olympic debut at Beijing 2008, Wilkinson played all but 19 minutes of Canada’s run to the bronze medal at London 2012 – Canada’s first Olympic medal in a traditional team summer sport since Berlin 1936. She appeared in three of Canada’s six games at Rio 2016 as the squad stood on the Olympic podium once again.

Wilkinson played her first international match in April 2003 and scored her first goal later that year. It was also in 2003 that she made the first of her four appearances at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, helping Canada to reach the bronze medal game. Wilkinson hit a milestone in March 2014 when she became just the third female soccer player to ever appear in 150 games for Canada. By the time she retired from playing in 2017, she had earned 181 caps.

Wilkinson represented Canada at three Pan American Games, winning silver at Santo Domingo 2003, bronze at Rio 2007 and gold at Guadalajara 2011.

In 2014, Wilkinson took a step into coaching, taking on an assistant role with Canada at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup. She also served an assistant coach with the national team that competed at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. She had been the head coach of the youth team that finished fourth at the 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup. In August 2019, she was appointed as head coach of Canada’s Women’s U20 and U17 National Teams.