![]() The higher profile your sport becomes, the more athletes higher up the ladder will switch over.”īrazil captain Isadora Cerullo may not have played international rugby if it wasn’t for the Olympics. “When rugby becomes a bigger sport, you’re going to get access to more athletes. ![]() “If you look at the medal board right now for the Olympics, China have got a lot of athletes there,” Mackintosh said. Mackintosh thinks China could be the sleeping giant of the rugby sevens format, comparing the potential talent pool with that of the United States, where multisport athletes - like former American football players Perry Baker and Carlin Isles - have chased Olympic opportunities through sevens. Some of the Chinese players burst into tears of joy when their Scottish coach, Euan Mackintosh, confirmed they’d reached the quarterfinals after a big group-stage win over Japan. Having the team on domestic TV, as it has been during the Olympics, can only give it more grassroots appeal. Ranked 10th in the world two years ago, Fiji’s women beat 2016 Olympic champion Australia in the quarterfinals and also gave overwhelming title favorite New Zealand a major fright - taking their semifinal match to golden-point extra time after it finished at 17-all.Ĭhina’s women’s squad was able to relocate five times to continue training during the pandemic, with backing of the national Olympic committee. “If you can play an Olympic sport, for girls back at home, we’re just opening the doors.” ![]() ![]() “For us, this is a big opportunity for (girls) to come up. “Back home, rugby is just a male dominated game right now,” Nagasau said. The way Rusila Nagasau’s squad went about winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, going ever-so-close to upsetting eventual champion New Zealand, showed that their national sport isn’t solely the domain of Fiji’s men.Īfter enduring four months isolated from their families in pre-Olympic camp, which started earlier than expected because of surging coronavirus cases in the Pacific island nation, Fiji’s women won a first Olympic medal. TOKYO (AP) - Little girls have been watching for decades as the boys in villages across Fiji’s scattered islands endlessly honed the skills that would ultimately earn them a living by playing a game they love. ![]()
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