World Rugby and the global rugby family are excited by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to retain all 28 sports that featured at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games programme.
The decision, taken by the IOC membership at the IOC Session in Lima today, ratifies the earlier recommendation of the IOC Executive Board and is another compelling endorsement of rugby sevens, which made a spectacular debut at Rio 2016.
During six action-packed days, the world’s top men’s and women’s sevens stars inspired a new generation of fans and participants worldwide with a recent Nielsen report highlighting a 16.8 million fan-base lift in six surveyed markets following Rio, while the total worldwide fan-base has propelled to more than 300 million. It was the most socially engaged rugby sevens event of all time.
And with the decision being universally supported, the global rugby family has taken to social media to mark the recommendation using the #Rugby7s, expressing excitement and looking forward to a trip to Paris in 2024.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “World Rugby, like the entire global rugby family, is very excited by today’s decision, which represents a major milestone and opportunity for our sport.
“I would like to thank the IOC President Thomas Bach and the IOC members for placing their continued trust in rugby, and our national member unions, players and passionate fans for making sevens the best it can possibly be.
“We continue to prepare for what promises to be a superb Tokyo 2020, congratulate Paris and look forward to working in full partnership with both organising committees and the IOC to ensure spectacular men’s and women’s rugby sevens.”
