GLENDALE, Colo. — University of Michigan alum Alena Olsen was named to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Rugby Sevens Team by USA Rugby on Monday (June 17). Olson, who played with the women’s rugby club as a Michigan student (2014-18), is one of 12 athletes selected to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
A native of Caledonia, Mich., Olsen first started playing rugby as a freshman at Michigan. She was a two-time All-American (2015, ’16) and earned a nomination to the Collegiate Rugby Championship Dream Team in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, she appeared in three USA Falcons development tournaments, including a five-match exhibition series with Australia, Super Sevens Brisbane and Okinawa Invitational.
Olsen made her USA Rugby debut in 2019, helping the Red, White and Blue win the Glendale Sevens — the first tournament of the 2019–20 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series — and was part of the U.S. sevens roster that finished fourth at the 2022 Rugby World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
She has been playing with the Kansas City Headliners of Premier Rugby Sevens since the inaugural tournament in 2021. The following year, the Headliners claimed the first United Champions, combining the results of the organization’s women’s and men’s teams, while the women’s squad also won the 2022 Kathy Flores Women’s Championship
Rugby Sevens was introduced to the Olympics at the 2016 Rio Games. The USA women finished fifth and sixth at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, respectively. Rugby union, a 15-a-side version of the game, was previously held on the men’s side in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 before being discontinued due to crowd violence during, and the pitch invasion after, the 1924 Olympic final, in which USA defeated host France, 17-3.
The Paris Games kick off July 26 and will conclude Aug. 11. The women’s rugby competition is slated to run from July 28-30, and will be held at the Stade de France stadium. Pools will be announced by World Rugby on June 23.
• USA Rugby Release
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Publish date : 2024-06-18 03:00:00
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