The Rio Olympics is just 127 days away and Australia’s Rugby Sevens players got their first taste of the multi-sports event on Wednesday.
Charlotte Caslick and Ed Jenkins were the Sevens representatives, helping launch the Olympic Opening Ceremony uniforms.
Caslick said getting a feel for the uniform, including a blazer lined with the names of every Australian Olympic gold medallist, made the countdown feel even closer.
“It gives me so much more motivation and just drive to want to be able to put this uniform on in a couple of months’ time,” she said.
“Everything is coming together and the days are going by so fast now.”
The men’s and women’s sides are preparing for the next leg in their respective World Serie,s with the men off to Hong Kong and the women to Atlanta.
As one sport that is debuting in the Rio Olympics, Jenkins said they would be seeking the advice of some of the more experienced counterparts as the date came closer.
“We’re the new kid on the block heading into Rio so we’ll probably be leaning on a lot of the other athletes that have been there and done it before,” he said.
“It’s exciting times for Rugby Sevens here in Australia and globally, with it being in the Olympics, but hopefully we can get some experience and some lessons with the other athletes that have been there.”
The Australian Men’s captain said there was plenty of work for his side to do ahead of Rio, with four chances to clinch an elusive Cup final win.
“We’ve been consistent in the last few tournaments, we’ve walked away with two seconds and a third,” he said.
“I think we need to learn how to close games out and hopefully walk away with the gold medal at the end of the day
With four tournaments left on the series, I think hopefully we can walk away with a gold medal and put us into good shape leading into Rio."
