5. Perry Baker (United States)
A legend of the sevens circuit, Perry Baker gave a star-studded performance fitting of the stars and stripes upon Team USA’s jerseys. Unstoppable when given an inch of space, and uncatchable when he breaks away into the back-field, Baker’s top contribution saw him run in four tries against Uruguay, which clinched the United States a place in the quarterfinals. Running in a total of six tries, to end the tournament as top scorer alongside Ireland’s Chay Mullins, the 38-year-old still has gas in the tank and showed it at his second Games.
6. Henry Hutchinson (Australia)
We’ve given the nod to the man nicknamed ‘Henry Clutch-inson’, as the Australian made a habit of making the all important plays in both attack and defence. For every searching run that led Hutchinson to his three tournament tries, the 27-year-old made crunching tackles against the likes of Fiji and South Africa. Devastated to miss out on the medals in the Bronze Final defeat to the Blitz Bokke, Hutchinson was beloved by the Parisian fans, and shone brighter in the gold jersey than his famous Brumbies teammate Corey Toole.
7. Selvyn Davids (South Africa)
Two of the top performers from the South African squad shared the surname Davids, yet we have opted for Selvyn ahead of his impressive teammate Zain. Sevens fans were left in awe as the dreadlocked sprinter flew across the pitch, reaching top speeds of 35km/h and stunned the line breaking ball carriers with last ditch defensive tackles. Excelling in the sweeper role for the Blitz Bokke, there were few men capable of outrunning Davids, or keeping up with him that matter, as he ended the tournament as a Bronze medallist and South Africa’s top scorer (three tries).
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8. Jerry Tuwai (Fiji)
On to the impact players, and Fiji veteran Jerry Tuwai was playing with an undeniable passion as he heads towards the twilight of his illustrious sevens career. The 35-year-old is a beloved figure within the Flying Fijian set-up, and pulled the strings in the midfield to send his younger teammates like Josua Tuosova and Kaminieli Rasaku through on charging lines. Despite losing a step of pace since his Fiji debut a decade ago, Tuwai was still at his best in the silver-medal clinching campaign.
9. Motu Opetai (Samoa)
Wasting no time in establishing himself upon the world’s stage, Motu Opetai holds the honour of scoring the first try of the 2024 Games, as he crossed over for a brace against Kenya. The midfielder was the top performer for Manu Samoa, who garnered the hearts and minds of the neutral fans whenever they took to the pitch. Joint top-scorer for his country alongside Vaa Apelu Maliko (three tries), Opetai gets the green light for his undeniable passion and tireless work rate in the Samoan royal blue.