Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Britt Benn is Tokyo bound to play in her second Olympic games next month.
The Napanee native was among the players named Canada’s women’s rugby sevens team when Rugby Canada announced their Olympic rosters on Friday.
“This has been the hardest 16 months of my life,” Benn wrote on social media. “I am grateful for the people who’ve stood by my side through it all. Proud to be named to the Rugby 7’s Olympic Team.”
The Olympics are set to run July 23 to Aug. 8, nearly a full year later than originally intended after they were delayed last summer due to the pandemic.
Canada originally qualified for the games back in June of 2019 when they finished third in the HSBC women’s sevens standings. The top four teams from that season advanced to the Olympics.
Benn is among six players on this year’s team who were on the 2016 team that captured bronze at the Rio Olympic Games. That was the year rugby sevens made its official debut at the games.
Canada’s women’s sevens team will be among 12 teams vying for Olympic gold in Tokyo when the tournament runs July 29 to 31. Teams will be divided into three pools of four for a preliminary round robin. The top eight teams advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the quarterfinals. The semifinal winners will advance to play for gold while the two losing teams will battle for bronze.
In their most recent action, Canada’s women’s rugby sevens placed first and then followed up with a second place finish in a pair of Emirates International Sevens tournaments, which were played over two weekends in Dubai in April.
Following the tournament the team trained in Langford B.C. to prepare for the Olympics.