Rugby 7s superstar Caroline Crossley of Victoria makes her third appearance in the Olympic Games this summer.
Crossley, 26, previously competed with the national team in Santiago in 2023 and Lima in 2019.
Crossley started playing rugby on her middle school’s boys team before moving to a club team started by her father, according to Olympics Canada.
The Oak Bay High grad was first exposed to international competition at the 2015 Youth Commonwealth Games where Canada won silver. She has been a standout since joining the senior women’s national sevens squad, participating in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco. In 2019, she helped Canada bring home gold from the Kitakyushu stop of the World Rugby Sevens Series.
According to the Castaway Wanderers (CW) rugby club, where Crossley is a longtime member, she’s overcome recent injury adversity with surgery and rehabilitation in the last two years. The CW club notes injury is keeping fellow Greater Victoria rugby phenom Sophie de Goede out for the Olympics.
The Paris Games run July 26 to Aug. 11 with 10,500 athletes competing in 329 events.
Canada’s women’s 7s team kicks off play in Pool A on July 28 at 8:30 a.m. PST against Fiji, New Zealand at 12:30 p.m. later that day. July 29 the team faces China at 7 a.m. with placing play starting later that day.
The bronze medal match is July 30 at 10 a.m. with the gold medal match at 10:45.
Find the full schedule and results online at olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule/rugby-sevens/women.
