Olympian Jaz Joyce Back For GB With Paris On Her Mind

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 28: Jasmine Joyce of Great Britain runs with in to score a try during the 2023 Sydney Sevens match between the United States and Great Britain at Allianz Stadium on January 28, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Olympian Jaz Joyce Back For GB With Paris On Her Mind

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By David Williams

Jasmine Joyce will be joined by Morgan and Tom Williams in competing for Team GB in Rugby Sevens at the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games between 21 June-2 July.

Team GB have selected a squad of 178 athletes to compete at the third staging of the event, with Rugby Sevens making its debut. The winners of the men’s and women’s sevens tournaments will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games next year.

Qualification for Paris 2024 will also be on the line in other disciplines with direct quota spots available in archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, canoe slalom, diving, modern pentathlon, shooting and table tennis up for grabs.

The only rugby nations to have booked their tickets into the Paris 2024 Games on the men’s side to date are host nation France, along with New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia – the top four sides from the 2022-23 World Sevens Series.

That leaves seven places to be filled, with the European Games providing the British squads with one of only two opportunities to join the Olympic party. Their other chance will be via the final Olympic qualifying tournament in June next year.

The teams taking part, in three pools of four, in Krakow will be – Poland, Team GB, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Georgia, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Romania.

The Team GB squad finished ninth in the men’s World Series and seventh in the women’s event. They will also be chasing a place among the final 12 qualifiers for Paris, along with Poland, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey.

The Irish Women have already booked their passage to the French capital next year having finished fourth in the World Series behind fellow qualifiers New Zealand, Australia and the USA. The French automatically qualify as the host nation.|

Joyce has already competed at two Olympics, helping Team GB finish fourth in both Rio and Tokyo. She scored seven tries in Tokyo.

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