Rugby sevens was introduced as a World Games sport for men at the 2001 World Games in Akita. No women's rugby has been played at the World Games.
The 2013 World Games was the last to feature the sport, with rugby sevens becoming a full Olympic event in 2016.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 Akita |  Fiji (FIJ) |  Australia (AUS) |  New Zealand (NZL) |
| 2005 Duisburg | Fiji (FIJ) |  South Africa (RSA) |  Argentina (ARG) |
| 2009 Kaohsiung | Fiji (FIJ) |  Portugal (POR) | South Africa (RSA) |
| 2013 Cali | South Africa (RSA) | Argentina (ARG) |  Canada (CAN) |
| Year | Host | Gold medal game | Bronze medal game | Refs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalist | Score | Silver medalist | Bronze medalist | Score | Fourth place | |||||
| 2001 |  Akita |  Fiji | 35–19 |  Australia |  New Zealand | 19–10 |  France | [1] [2] | ||
| 2005 |  Duisburg | Fiji | 31–26 |  South Africa |  Argentina | 22–10 |  Great Britain | [3] | ||
| 2009 |  Kaohsiung [a 1] | Fiji | 43–10 |  Portugal | South Africa | 17–0 | Argentina | [4] [5] | ||
| 2013 |  Cali | South Africa | 33–24 | Argentina |  Canada | 33–21 | France | [6] [7] | ||
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.
The Australia men's national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens. The current captain of the team is Nick Malouf, and the head coach is John Manenti.
The Argentina national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and, beginning in 2016, in the Summer Olympics.
The 2001 World Games, the sixth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Akita, Japan.
The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 180,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The Portugal national rugby sevens team played for the first time in 1992, at the Catania Sevens, World Cup 1993 European Qualifier. The team plays in competitions such as the World Sevens Series, the European Sevens Grand Prix Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Portugal has a record of eight European titles—in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011—although Portugal has not made the semifinals since 2012. Pedro Leal and Gonçalo Foro are two notable sevens players.
Rugby union, specifically in the sevens format, was introduced as a World Games sport for men at the 2001 World Games in Akita. Fiji entered the 2009 games as the two time defending Gold Medalists. Held on July 24 and 25 of 2009 in Taiwan, Fiji clinched gold for the 3rd time in front of a crowd of 39,000. The Fijian win preserves Fiji as the only nation to ever capture gold at the games. Represented were South Africa, Portugal, Argentina, Fiji, and Chinese Taipei. The USA was the biggest disappointment of Day 1 going 0–3 having been expected to compete for a medal. The biggest surprise of the event was Portugal finding their way into the Gold Medal Match and coming away with the Silver Medal.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all African countries, and in 2010 South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup.
This is the all-time medal table of the World Games as of the 2022 edition. In the history of the games, Russia has led the total medal count four times, and Italy three times. The United States have claimed that honor twice, while Germany also led the overall count twice in 1993 and in 2022. Ranked by gold, then silver, then bronze:
American football was featured in the Summer Olympic Games demonstration programme in 1904 and 1932. College football was played at the 1904 Olympics, which was played at Francis Field, but was, in reality, college teams playing each other as part of their regular seasons. The sport was eventually played officially as a demonstration sport only once, in 1932. Though American football has not been played in the Olympics since then, various American football players have participated in the Olympics. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) oversees the IFAF World Championship, which is an international tournament, which itself is held every four years.
Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics was played for the first time at the 2016 Summer Olympics with both men's and women's contests. Rugby sevens was added to the Olympics following the decision of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. The champions for the inaugural rugby sevens tournament in 2016 were Fiji for the men and Australia for the women. Prior to 2016, 15-a-side matches were played in 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924.
The Australia women's national rugby sevens team, nicknamed the Pearls, are the Australia national rugby sevens team of women. They were champions of the inaugural Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009. The team plays in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series as one of the "core teams" on the world tour, of which they were crowned Champions in 2015–16. The team also played in the preceding competition to the current world series, the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup. In 2016, they won the inaugural gold medal at the Rio Summer Olympics.
Rugby sevens at the 2013 World Games was held from August 1 to August 2. Eight teams competed in the rugby sevens tournament held at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali as part of the ninth World Games. South Africa won the gold medal, defeating silver medalists Argentina in the final by 33–24. Canada took the bronze medal, defeating France 33–21 in the play-off for third place. This was the last appearance of rugby sevens at the World Games due to the sport's inclusion in the Olympics.
Osea Kolinisau, OF is a Fijian rugby union player who plays for Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby (MLR). He captained the Fiji Sevens side to their first olympic gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Kelly Russell was a Canadian rugby union player, and is a coach for the sport. She captained Canada at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup and was named to the Dream Team.
The Great Britain national rugby sevens team is the men's international rugby 7s team that is the representative team of Great Britain. After having played at the World Games in 2001 and 2005, they made their Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where they won the silver medal, losing the final to Fiji.
Rugby sevens at the World Games 2001 was played at Akita Yabase Stadium in Akita, Japan on 25–26 August 2001. Fiji won the final against Australia by the score of 35 to 19.
Isadora Cerullo is a Brazilian-American rugby sevens player.
Republic of China (Taiwan) is recognised as Chinese Taipei by International World Games Association and the majority of international organisations it participates in due to political considerations and Cross-Strait relations with the People's Republic of China.