SINGAPORE - National swimmer Joseph Schooling was the toast of the town when he won Singapore's first Olympic gold in Rio 2016, but unknown to many, out of that Games emerged another remarkable champion born in the Lion City.

Australia rugby sevens player Chloe Dalton was born at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in 1993 and lived here with her family until she was about three before moving Down Under.

Sport was already in her blood as her father Brad was president of the Warringah Rugby Club which her brothers Michael and Bailey played for. They swam and played cricket, touch rugby, and football together, and she was further inspired by watching fellow Australian Cathy Freeman win gold in the 400-metre dash at Sydney 2000.

But it would take a lot more blood, sweat and tears for her to reach the world's biggest sporting stage.

Brad told The Australian how his daughter could "run all day", winning the national cross-country championships when she was younger. She then played for Women's National Basketball League side Sydney Flames, but felt her national team career was going nowhere after siting on the bench for two years.

In 2014, she declared to her father that she wanted to be an Olympian. But she did not know which sport would get her there.

In a WiT Virtual online event about range and resilience on Wednesday (April 15), Dalton shared how she crossed off a list of sports that she had googled.

The 26-year-old said: "I had a look at triathlon because I was quite good at cross country and I wasn't bad on a bike, but I didn't like swimming. Then I looked at martial arts, but thought that was probably a sport people did from when they're quite young, so that would probably be a bit too late."

When she realised rugby sevens was going to debut at Rio 2016, and having grown up in a rugby family, she was sold.

But without firm fundamentals, she had to learn the sport the hard way, and returned from her first match with a black eye.

She told News.com.au: "Sunglasses, a bit of makeup, I tried to turn my face when I talked to Mum so she couldn't see the black eye. That didn't last long. She found out soon enough. And I figured I should probably learn how to tackle."

Armed with a helmet, mouthguard and shoulder pads, Dalton asked her brothers to charge at her in their backyard. She was battered and bruised, but she learnt how to defend.

But she was not spared from injury, fracturing her left arm thrice in a year - she had surgery to put in a 12cm plate and nine screws.

Despite all the setbacks, eight months later at the Deodoro Stadium in Rio, Dalton had a gleaming gold medal round her neck after putting in a solid defensive shift as Australia beat New Zealand 24-17 in the final.

Giving insight into how she went from clueless to champion, she emphasised the importance of being teachable, saying: "When you are put into a new environment or a strange one or a different one, it gives you a bit of liberty to be okay with not being the best at it.

"But I had a lot of belief in the fact that I had the ability, the motivation and the work ethic to get there. I willingly put myself into those challenging situations to see where I can get to... to tick off small things at a time and learn a whole lot more about yourself."

Her next aim is to be a multiple Olympian, like her basketball idol and four-time Olympic medallist Lauren Jackson, although she conceded she would find it hard to settle for anything less than another gold medal as she wants to "finish on that high".

Those dreams will have to wait as the global coronavirus pandemic has seen the Tokyo Olympics postponed to next year, and Dalton is working on her speed and skills with her strength and conditioning coach as team training has been stopped due to the restrictions at home.

Outside of her sporting ambitions, she also looks forward to coming back to Singapore.

"As a family, when we travel overseas, we often try and stop back in Singapore... to check out Raffles (Hotel) for a cocktail or go to the Satay Club and have some food on the streets,"she said.

"Even when I'm in Australia, I get chicken rice wherever I can, so I've got some really special connections with Singapore and yeah, I'd love to get back there soon one day."