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“This school meant so much to me and my rugby career,” said Kish as she surveyed the gym where she played basketball. “W.P. Wagner was a big part of my journey. The school allowed me to go on tour when I started to get the opportunities. Just the fact they had a rugby program I’ll be forever grateful because I’d never have joined rugby if they hadn’t.”

Kish figures she’ll go down as a pioneer.

“The Olympic medal is the most precious. There’s a lot of weight behind that Olympic medal. I think we can all see now what it did and what it helped us accomplish. It inspired a nation. I think they felt a pride that we had. A lot of people didn’t really know about our journey and it was at the Olympic Games that people came to comprehend how hard we worked and how we came to achieve a dream.”

It’s only since the Olympics that Kish is getting recognized away from a rugby venue.

“Now I’m getting double takes all the time. Some people will just stare. Others will come up to me and say ‘Are you Jen Kish?’ and I’ll say, ‘Yup, the one and only.’”

Just as she became a star she had to walk away.

“I miss it, because I fell in love with it. But at the same time I knew it was time to walk away and from that point of view I’m at peace with it,” said the personal trainer who turns 30 in July.

Kish said she knew she was in extra time when it came to her body.

“I’d spent a great deal of my career struggling through injury. To me, I’m being forced to finish my career halfway through because of injury.

“I was the first one on the team to tear my MCL. I broke my kneecap. I broke my pelvis. I tore my labrum. I dislocated my finger in two places and broke a finger, too. I broke my nose. I hurt my neck and sprained a lot of things. After my bad neck, I played a year and broke my hip. But to come back from a neck injury and then the broken hip and experience that Olympic success with the girls.”

She should have stuck with football. It’s hard to find a CFL player with that long or assorted a list of injuries.

E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @ByTerryJones