Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics
Rugby sevens debuted at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Rugby sevens made its Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Games, featuring separate tournaments for men and women. The sport was added to the program after the International Olympic Committee voted at its 121st Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. The first gold medals went to Fiji in the men’s event and Australia in the women’s event. Before 2016, the only Olympic rugby had been the 15-a-side version, played in 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924.
Efforts to bring rugby sevens to the Olympics date back decades. In 1932, a Scottish man living in Canada, W. Hastie Cochrane, tried to get the sport included as an exhibition at the Los Angeles Games. The IOC turned him down, saying the limit of two exhibition sports had already been filled by American football and lacrosse. (All three sports are scheduled for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, though American football will be played as flag football and lacrosse as six-a-side.)
A more formal bid came in 2005, when rugby sevens was one of five sports—along with golf, karate, roller sports, and squash—submitting proposals for the 2012 Games at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. The IOC said no new sport could be added unless another was dropped. After a vote, squash and karate were chosen as the two candidates, but ultimately no new sports were added for 2012 because all proposals were rejected.
The successful push for 2016 began when rugby sevens and golf were both recommended and approved together for two open slots, rather than competing directly against each other. The final decision came at the IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. To build support, the International Rugby Board (IRB) used high-profile figures and events. In March 2009, two senior IOC delegates attended the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, where 78,000 fans watched over three days; Wales won the men’s title, and Australia claimed the first women’s World Cup. The IRB also enlisted rugby stars as ambassadors: Jonah Lomu and Lawrence Dallaglio in March 2009, and Waisale Serevi in April 2009, the latter announced during the Oceania National Olympic Committees’ general assembly. In May 2009, the IRB emphasized that the Olympics would become the premier event in the sport, but the Rugby World Cup Sevens continued to be held.
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Lore & Background
Efforts to include rugby sevens in the Olympics began as early as 1932, when a Scottish man based in Canada, Mr. W. Hastie Cochrane, unsuccessfully bid to get the sport into the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. The IOC stated that the limit of two exhibition sports could not be exceeded, as American football and lacrosse were already planned. A later bid for the 2012 games saw rugby sevens as one of five sports submitting proposals at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore in 2005, but no new sports were added for 2012 because all proposals were rejected.
For the 2016 bid, rugby sevens and golf were both recommended and approved together for two open slots, not in a direct winner-takes-all competition.
Reader's Guide
Rugby sevens' inclusion in the Olympics marked a significant shift for the sport, which had not been featured in any form since 1924. The seven-a-side format, completed over two or three days with squads of no more than 12 players and multiple 14-minute matches in one stadium, was seen as particularly suitable for multi-sport events. The 2016 competition took place in a temporary arena at Deodoro Stadium, after original plans for São Januário Stadium were scrapped. The tournament ran from August 6–11, 2016. In the women's tournament, Australia beat New Zealand 24–17 in the first final of women's rugby union at the Olympic Games. In the men's tournament, Fiji secured their first Olympic medal with a 43–7 win over Great Britain, while South Africa won bronze. The introduction of rugby sevens and Fiji's victory for their first ever Olympic medal was seen as a significant success story of the Games, notwithstanding that rugby union was not considered a major sport in Brazil. The sport was retained for 2020, 2024, and 2028, and is expected to be included in 2032 in Australia.
Did You Know?
- Rugby sevens was added to the Olympics following the decision of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009.
- The men's inaugural champion in 2016 was Fiji, and the women's champion was Australia.
- The IRB dropped the Rugby World Cup Sevens in May 2009 to improve the chances of the sport being included in the Olympics.
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