All Eyes On Olympic Hopefuls
The 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series is heading to London this weekend, from May 20-21 for the series finale.
With the women’s series having concluded in Toulouse all eyes will be on the men in action at Twickenham Stadium where, for the Olympic hopefuls, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
On the line in London will be the final two men’s Paris 2024 Olympic spots available through the World Rugby Sevens Series qualification pathway, with four teams – Fiji, Australia, Samoa and South Africa – all still technically in the hunt.
Sitting on 138 points in the season standings, two-time Olympic champions Fiji are almost certain to qualify in London with Australia, on 125, not too far behind.
Samoa and South Africa, both tied at 116, must win to gain the maximum number of points (22) and hope other results go their way if they stand a hope of clinching a ticket.
Already confirmed for the men’s competition at next summer’s Games are New Zealand, Argentina and France.
The French team qualified by virtue of their host status, while the All Black 7s locked in by winning the series and Los Pumas 7s by accumulating enough points to finish at least in the top four.
Those looking to make it to the Games but didn’t successfully book their place during the World Rugby Sevens Series can still qualify through other routes.
An Olympic Qualification Tournament will be organised by every World Rugby Regional Association between May 31, 2023 and December 31, 2023. The winner of each of the designated tournaments will earn a quota place for their NOC for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 through the World Rugby Sevens World Series will not be eligible to participate in the Regional Olympic Qualification tournaments unless otherwise agreed by World Rugby.
The quota distribution will be as follow:
- Africa: One quota per gender
- Asia: One quota per gender
- Europe: One quota per gender
- North America: One quota per gender
- Oceania: One quota per gender
- South America: One quota per gender
The only difference between men’s and women’s qualification process relates to the Regional Olympic Qualification tournaments.
If two teams from North America qualify through the World Rugby Sevens World Series for Women, the regional place will be added to the Final Olympic Repechage Tournament.
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Source: Olympics.com
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