--- description: Team USA heads to the Rio Games this summer with a chance to win something that would seem impossible: an Olympic medal in rugby. title: Meet Team USA: The Fastest Man In Rugby image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f60de3dd39f44ac/6988991ecd1bba8fd170137c/gettyimages-514092976.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Rio 2016](/tag/rio-2016/) ## Rio 2016 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Meet Team USA: The Fastest Man In Rugby by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/) and [Julia Lull](/author/julia-lull/) Jun 23, 2016 3:01 PM CUT  Carlin Isles (L) of the United States holds offs Seabelo Senatla of South Africa during the USA Sevens Rugby tournament at Sam Boyd Stadium on March 6, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Carlin Isles (L) of the United States holds offs Seabelo Senatla of South Africa during the USA Sevens Rugby tournament at Sam Boyd Stadium on March 6, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.David Becker—Getty Images by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/) and [Julia Lull](/author/julia-lull/) Jun 23, 2016 3:01 PM CUT Team USA heads to the Rio Games this summer with a chance to win something that would seem impossible for a bunch of Americans: an Olympic medal in rugby. Their cause has been bolstered by the rise of 26-year-old Carlin Isles, a former football player and sprinter who, in just four years, has gone from rugby neophyte to potential Olympic phenomenon. A clip showing Isles dashing past some of the world’s best players, titled “Carlin Isles. Olympic Dream,” has nearly 7 million YouTube views. Rugby sevens — a faster game played with seven to a side, instead of the traditional (and more plodding) 15 — makes its Olympic debut in Rio. “Carlin is one of the first global celebrities to come out of sevens,” says Brett Gosper, CEO of World Rugby, the sport’s global governing body. “He’s the face of America’s ambitions in the game.” [To read more about Isles, check out the July 4th issue of TIME, which subscribers can read here](//93C9802C-8F2A-4A55-B58B-AC9C7FEFA3C3/time.com/magazine "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4379823/team-usa-olympics-rugby/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4379823/team-usa-olympics-rugby/"},"headline":"Meet Team USA: The Fastest Man In Rugby","datePublished":"2016-06-23T15:01:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:09:20.410Z","description":"Carlin Isles will go for gold this summer in Rio","url":"https://time.com/4379823/team-usa-olympics-rugby/","keywords":["Rio 2016","olympics","Team USA","rugby"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f60de3dd39f44ac/6988991ecd1bba8fd170137c/gettyimages-514092976.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Lull","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-lull/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f60de3dd39f44ac/6988991ecd1bba8fd170137c/gettyimages-514092976.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 USA Sevens Rugby Tournament - Day 3","caption":"2016 USA Sevens Rugby Tournament - Day 3","creditText":"David Becker—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/rio-2016/","name":"Rio 2016"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4379823/team-usa-olympics-rugby/","name":"Meet Team USA: The Fastest Man In Rugby"}}]}] ```