If modern-day fairy tales do come true, Anastasia Khamova might well be living one.
The captain of the 15-a-side Kazakhstan team may have a famous name but her achievements rank up there with anyone called 'Anastasia'. 'Many young girls and women like my name, as they associate it with the Disney story or the pop star of the same name.'
Her effervescent smile cannot belie the mix of pride and humility still pumping through her veins after helping change the course of rugby sevens forever.
The 29-year-old from Almaty was one of six players from around the world who presented the case for rugby to return to the Olympics. Final rehearsals in Lausanne and then London led to the ultimate presentation: An audience with the 140-strong board of the IOC in Copenhagen last October. 'Whereas normally countries play against each other, in this case the group of six individuals from around the world became a unique team,' she said.
Like any sporting success, it is not the individual that wins, it is the team.
'Like a good game, there was the incredible desire to win for all of us as a team. There was much emotion. There was more pressure than in a game of rugby. Even if you are competing at the top level, there is your whole country behind you. In this case we felt the whole of the rugby world was behind us. And we didn't want to fail.
'In my speech, I spoke from the heart. That was not difficult, as I believe in rugby, and spoke in my native Russian tongue. I talked about Kazakhstan as an unknown country for many, and as a lesser known rugby nation.'