LEGO-building Olympian talks her favourite and future builds

LEGO-building Olympian bronze medallist Sammy Sullivan has dug deeper into both her earliest and future LEGO builds in a new interview.

Just after winning a bronze medal as part of the USA rugby sevens team in France during 2024’s Olympics, Sammy Sullivan championed her love of LEGO during a post-match interview. Now, she’s dug deeper into both her childhood of building LEGO and what she hopes to build in the future during an interview with Nerdist.

“My very first set, OG was elementary, middle school time,” the rugby player remembered. “It was the big SpongeBob where you open it, and it’s Plankton or whoever controlling him (2006’s 3826 Build-A-Bob). That was my first set that I can remember.

“My twin brother, Jackson and my dad were always super into Star Wars LEGO, and being boy and girl twins, I feel like he would always get the LEGO sets for birthdays and Christmas and I would get whatever else. So growing up, unless I bought it for myself with spending money, I didn’t get LEGO.”

That wouldn’t last, however, when Sammy grew up and found herself wanting to return to a hobby that kept her mind and her hands busy.

“My first adult experience with LEGO was early 2023, my second year with the rugby team,” Sammy continued. “I was not in the best place mentally, just struggling with sophomore year blues.

“My happy place growing up was walking around Barnes and Noble. I went to Barnes and Noble one day after practice to smell the books, read the backs of books, the whole vibe, and there’s a whole section of adult LEGO sets. I’m looking at these sets, and I thought, maybe instead of spiralling when I get home, maybe it would be good to do something with my hands. Something tangible with a gorgeous end product. So, my first adult set was 21341 Disney Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage.

“From there, it was an instant obsession with the building process and collecting.”

Sammy went on to mention a few other recent builds, including 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle, 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, and 21343 Viking Village, generally preferring buildings and structural sets. 10332 Medieval Town Square and 21318 Treehouse are still on her list to get, as well as journeying into a whole new theme.

“My next venture into LEGO will definitely be the Technic sets,” Sammy said. “It looks really complicated, but in a fun, challenging way. Definitely looking to get my hands on some Technic sets moving forward, but structures for sure are my favourite.”

The first set on the list will be sure to take up a huge chunk of the Olympian’s time once she gets home, as she also mentioned that she was sent 10307 Eiffel Tower from the Dayton Brick Shop in Ohio, a fitting present for a bronze medallist returning from Paris. As one of the biggest LEGO sets of all time, it might be a while before she has time to turn her attention to LEGO Technic.

Sammy Sullivan is not the only triumphant sportsperson to receive LEGO as a reward for their efforts, with Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikova getting a custom brick-built gift from the LEGO Group itself.

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Rachael Davies

I write about all the very best fandoms – and that means LEGO, of course. Spending so much time looking at and talking about LEGO sets is dangerous for my bank balance, but the LEGO shelves are thriving. You win some, you lose some.

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