Three-time Olympians Lauren Doyle and Alev Kelter headline a 12-woman U.S. rugby sevens team for the Paris Games seeking the program’s first medal.
Doyle and Kelter, both 33, return after playing in the first two Olympic rugby sevens tournaments in Rio and Tokyo after the event was added to the Olympic program.
They’re joined by returning Tokyo Olympians Kayla Canett, Kristi Kirshe, Ilona Maher, Ariana Ramsey and Naya Tapper.
Doyle and Tapper are co-captains.
TEAM USA: Every athlete qualified for Paris Olympics
First-time Olympians Sarah Levy, Alena Olsen, Steph Rovetti, Spiff Sedrick and Sammy Sullivan round out the team.
Tokyo Olympians Kris Thomas and Nicole Heavirland are traveling reserves.
Rugby was held at the Olympics in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 in the 15-a-side version for men. The sport returned to the Olympics in 2016 in the sevens format for men and women.
The U.S. women placed fifth in Rio and sixth in Tokyo. The U.S. men were ninth in Rio and sixth in Tokyo.
The last two years, the U.S. women placed third and fourth in the World Series regular season standings.
New Zealand and Australia, the winners of the first two Olympic women’s rugby sevens tournaments, ranked Nos. 1 and 2 each of the last two seasons.
Three months after the Tokyo Games, Emilie Bydwell was announced as the new U.S. head coach, succeeding Olympic coach Chris Brown.
The U.S. men’s rugby team for Paris has yet to be announced.
Hometown Hopefuls: Ilona Maher on the post-Olympic blues and body image
U.S. Rugby Sevens center Ilona Maher gets candid about the lows she experienced after the Tokyo Olympics and the criticism she’s received about body image.
