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 The U.S. men beat Canada 21-5 in the final of the North American and
Caribbean championship in Cary, North Carolina, while the women
obliterated Mexico 88-0 in their decider.
Sevens will debut at the Olympics after a 92-year hiatus for the
game of rugby.
Though the United States are lightweights in world rugby next to
Europe and southern hemisphere peers, the men's team can claim to be
defending champions at Rio in a sense.
They took the rugby union gold at the 1920 Olympics and defended it
successfully at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, after which the sport
was dropped from the program.
Carlin Isles, the winger on the U.S. men's team, will head to Rio
having once hoped to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team as a
sprinter.
Isles once clocked a 100 meters time of 10.24 seconds, fast but some
way off the top American sprinters.
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The 25-year-old has instead become a valuable member of the sevens
team, using his blistering speed to score numerous tries and gain a
reputation as the fastest player in the game.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ian
Ransom)
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