A gold medal chance has been dangled in front of any Australian athlete considering a career change as Australia’s women’s rugby sevens program locks into Olympic mode.
Winners at Rio’s inaugural Olympic competition three years ago, Australia have since been brought back to the pack.
But, guaranteed a title defence after claiming the fourth and final automatic Olympic qualifying spot earlier this week, the recruitment drive is far from over.
A bulk of the core remains from Australia’s successful tilt in Rio but coach John Manenti has made it clear they will consider any late applications ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games in July.
“The Olympics is obviously a special opportunity, so whether any other athletes want to put their hand up in the next few months and come into the picture we’ll see,” he said.
“It’s an exciting time and I’m hoping the pressure and competition around positions drives the girls to another level.”
Many of the originals from the gold medal side hailed from touch football and traditional rugby union backgrounds, while former Australian track sprinter Ellia Green is among the most damaging players in the game.
Australian men’s 100m specialist Trae Williams will pursue a sevens berth after walking away from a potential Olympic start on the track, while the now-dominant United States men’s team has been built around former American football and athletics talent Carlin Isles.
Australia’s women failed to win a leg of the world series this year, which was easily won by New Zealand.
The improved Canada, the United States, France and Russia were all consistent performers as Australia battled without injured pair Charlotte Caslick and Emma Tonegato for the bulk of the series.
The lure of an Olympic campaign has always been the code’s major attraction and Manenti, who knows his team must lift to be any chance of replicating their Rio efforts, is happy to lean on it again.
“Not every sport gets to go to the Olympics and we know we’re going,” he said, while claiming there was no specific athlete currently on the radar.
“If there’s people in a transitional sort of phase we’d be prepared to look if the right athletes come along.”