The Kenya Lionesses squad has been named ahead of the Olympic Repechage slated for Monaco, which will decide the last remaining women’s teams to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 rugby sevens.
The squad sees the return of speedster Janet Okello and Grace Okullo, who missed the final Challenger Series tournament due to commitments with the Japanese club MIE Pearls Women’s Rugby Football Club.
Kenya Lionesses retain duo
Freshia Oduor and Edith Nariaka have been retained after making their debuts during the Challenger Series campaign earlier this month.
However, Phoebe Akinyi misses out due to injury, and Terry Ayesa has also been omitted from the squad.
The three-day Repechage event will take place at Stade Louis II in Monaco on 21-23 June 2024. The venue previously hosted final qualification events before the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The tournament will feature 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams, all vying for the ultimate prize of representing their country on the biggest global sporting stage.
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In the men’s competition, the teams competing will include Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Great Britain, Hong Kong China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, and Uganda. South Africa’s Blitzboks are strong contenders after winning the first round of HSBC SVNS 2024 in Dubai, with Canada, Great Britain, and Spain also being core teams on the top-level rugby sevens circuit.
The women’s tournament is wide open and will feature teams from Argentina, China, Czechia, Hong Kong China, Kenya, Jamaica, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Samoa, and Uganda, with Czechia making their Repechage debut. The women’s event is expected to be highly competitive.
In the men’s event, hosts France are joined by New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, and Australia, who booked their places in Paris by ranking in the top four positions of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023.
These teams will be joined by six regional qualification tournament winners, including Uruguay (South America), Ireland (Europe), USA (North America), Kenya (Africa), Samoa (Oceania), and Japan (Asia).
The women’s Olympic lineup includes New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and USA as the top four qualifiers through the 2023 World Series, along with hosts France. They have been joined by Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Fiji, and Japan as regional qualification tournament winners.
Paris 2024 will mark rugby sevens’ third appearance at the Olympic Games, and the sport is expected to be one of the most highly anticipated events, following the outstanding success of Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. Fiji’s men have dominated the Olympic competition to date with double gold medal success on debut at Rio 2016 and again in Tokyo five years later.
New Zealand are the reigning women’s Olympic champions, while Australia won the inaugural women’s Olympic gold medal in Rio.
Kenya Lionesses final squad
1)Sheila Chajira
2) Naomi Amuguni
3) Stella Wafula
4) Maureen Muritu
5) Christabel Lindo
6) Edith Nariaka
7) Grace Okulo
8) Sinaida Mokaya
9) Fresia Oduor
10) Sharon Auma
11) Janet Okello
12) Judith Okumu
Women Pools
Pool A: Argentina, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Samoa
Pool B: Uganda, Hong Kong China, Paraguay, Jamaica
Pool C: China, Poland, Czechia, Mexico
