World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said that rugby is at the Olympics "to stay" and "it couldn't have happened without the Hong Kong Sevens," according to James Porteous of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Gosper promised a "Hong Kong Sevens experience" for fans at Tokyo 2020 and was "confident the sport would remain at the Games long beyond that after the success of its debut in Brazil." He said, "The Hong Kong Sevens has been the flagship event for some time and it is the event we point to when we try to show what the Olympics can be. We’ve always been able to take IOC members and people who are discovering the sport to a place like Hong Kong and show them what the Olympics could one day be -- and this is confirming that. Hong Kong has had a very important role in establishing ourselves as an Olympics sport." Gosper said that bringing IOC officials to see the Hong Kong Sevens had "been key to the sport's inclusion -- and revealed that they have continued to do so since, in case Rio didn't turn out as hoped." He said, "You never know how it will go in Rio, you want them to understand, beyond whatever success we might have here, that this is an amazing, established sport which is good for the Olympics." The IOC will decide next year "what sports remain" on the program for future Olympics, and Gosper was "confident that Sevens will stay." Gosper: "I think it's been very, very strongly received" (SCMP, 8/13).
