Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Sarah Hirini and Tyla King will be hunting a third medal when they take to the field at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The rugby sevens athletes have a gold and silver to their name, having won the Olympic competition at Tokyo 2020 and placed second at Rio 2016 where the sport debuted.
“It’s unreal, being here it still feels like my first time,” said Woodman-Wickliffe.
“Walking into the Olympic Village, seeing all the flags, the dining hall, it’s so cool.”
The women’s team was welcomed to the village yesterday with the Pou Tangata haka which was led by the men’s team.
“It was beautiful and it’s really cool to see the evolution from the first Olympics to now, the culture has really grown and it’s awesome to be a part of everyone else’s welcome as well.”
The women start competition on July 28th, with their first match against China at the iconic Stade de France.
“We’re in a good space. We had a two-week training camp in Southern France and we’re here now and looking forward to training and getting into it.”