It is not long before the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics get underway.
However, before the boats sail the Seine for the opening ceremony, a UCF Knights alum will hit the field to begin his and his team’s quest for a medal.
The United States Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens Teams both have a member of their roster who came through the University of Central Florida on their way to Team USA.
Learn more about Malacchi Esdale and Kristen Thomas, plus when to watch their matches, below:
Malacchi Esdale — Men’s Team
Evan Denworth
Orlando was just one of several stops of Malacchi Esdale’s athletic career that has led to Paris for his on-field Olympic debut.
While Esdale was first introduced to rugby during high school in Naples, he initially played football in college, beginning at ASA College in New York and then trying out for Miami (FL)’s squad. When that didn’t work out, he transferred to UCF where he picked up rugby again with the UCF Men’s Rugby Club.
“Before joining that team, I had had maybe roughly four matches of experience before that,” Esdale said. “So, I think that that moment in my career really defined more of the intricate skills that you can pick up on the rugby pitch.”
In 2017, Esdale turned pro by joining the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. This is where he met Osea Kolinisau, the captain of the Fijian national rugby sevens team that won the gold medal in the Rio 2016 Games. Since March, he’s been the head coach of the Fijian National Rugby Sevens Team, which Esdale and Team USA will play in its second match of group play.
“So, he had a connection with Mike Friday, which is a USA head coach, and he said, ‘Hey, this guy, Malacchi, you know, he’s something special. He’s pretty fast. I think he’s got a real knack for the game of sevens,’ and basically sent an email out,” Esdale said. “The way it works is, if you get a recommendation like that, they’ll send you to a camp in Chula Vista [California].”
While Esdale did travel to Tokyo for the 2020 Games, he did so as a traveling reserve and did not see the pitch as Team USA finished 6th, going 4-2 for the tournament.
However, since Esdale joined the national team, he has played in 136 matches on the international HSBC SVNS series, scoring 71 tries. In this most recent season alone, he played in 39 matches, scoring 21 tries.
All of this leads to three weeks ago when Esdale was named to the main Olympics roster for the first time in his national-team career.
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into achieving something like this,” Esdale said. “I think it’s the pinnacle of any athlete’s career. It’s the goal, it’s the end goal, of any athlete’s career.”
Team USA will get started in Paris starting on Wednesday with group play matches against France at 10:30 a.m. ET and Fiji at 2:30 p.m. ET and will conclude group play on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET against Uruguay. The medal-round matches begin later that day.
Per USA Rugby’s Twitter Account, all matches will be streaming live on Peacock. However, two of these matches, Fiji and Uruguay, are also slated to air on the USA Network, though this is subject to change.
Kristen Thomas — Women’s Team
Evan Denworth
While her time in the sport is winding down, Kristen Thomas has one more Olympics left in her.
Recently turning 31-years-old, Thomas said she would be retiring after the Paris Games. She will serve as a traveling reserve for the squad she’s been a part of since 2015.
“I think it is tougher now, being 30 years old than it was running around when I was 21, but I just love the sport so much still and I just love hanging out with my teammates every day,” Thomas said. “I like going to work like I think all of that just motivates me to keep going and we still haven’t achieved the goal that we set out to achieve, which is to win a medal for us in rugby sevens.”
Even in her 30s, Thomas has still seen action with the U.S. National Team during the 2023-24 season of the HSBC SVNS, scoring 3 tries in 18 matches. Over her entire career, she’s played in 211 matches in such tournaments, scoring 96 total tries.
Paris will be Thomas’ second Olympics with the U.S. National Team. While she missed the 2016 Rio Games due to an injury, she made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where Team USA finished in 6th place after going 4-2.
“The journey toward the Tokyo Olympics were pretty challenging just because, you know, when you have this grand dream, and then you get injured, like two months before, and it was devastating,” Thomas said. “Like, even to this day, I remember the feelings, you know, it’s pretty devastating. So, to be able to go out there in the next Olympics and like, not just make the team but to play well, it was pretty special for me and it was like ‘Ah! I can’t believe this is happening, but it’s happening!’ type thing.”
Team USA will be back at it in Paris starting on Sunday with group play matches against Japan at 10:30 a.m. ET and Brazil at 2 p.m. ET and will conclude group play on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET against France. The medal-round matches begin later that day.
Per USA Rugby’s Twitter Account, all matches will be streaming live on Peacock. However, they are also slated to air on cable: the Sunday matches on CNBC and the Monday match on USA Network, though this is subject to change.
Watch Bryson Turner’s full interview with Kristen Thomas below and follow her on her Instagram to see her experience in the Paris Olympic Village:
Source link : https://www.blackandgoldbanneret.com/2024/7/23/24203852/ucf-knights-rugby-players-competing-in-paris-olympics-for-team-usa
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Publish date : 2024-07-23 15:32:23
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