Provo native Maka Unufe is headed to Rio after being named to the USA Rugby's Olympic sevens team.
The former Provo High football and United Rugby Club and Utah Warriors player has been a mainstay for the Eagles' sevens team for a few years.
Rugby is returning to the Olympic games for the first time since 1924's Paris Games. (The U.S. is actually the two-time defending champions.) The game will be different than when the 15-player rugby union played, as the Rio Games will showcase a faster, shorter version called rugby sevens.
The team, which was announced Monday morning, includes New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner and will be captained by Madison Hughes. Hughes led the U.S. junior team to a World Trophy title in an international tournament hosted in Murray four years ago.
"The boys fully appreciate the accountability that comes with that responsibility and are looking forward with confidence to those challenges," USA head coach Mike Friday said in Monday's news release. "While we are not the pre-tournament favorites like Fiji, who have to play with that expectation, we are a team who are hugely respected and feared by all other countries as genuine contenders. We know that on any given Sunday we have the power, pace and physicality to match and beat anyone.
"The boys recognize the magnitude of the task, but are confident that we can be medal contenders if we play to our ability. We will represent the people of the USA in a way that they expect and deserve, exhibiting the characteristics that will make them proud."
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