The Fiji men’s rugby sevens team took home the gold medal on Wednesday with a 27-12 win over New Zealand.
The victory made them back-to-back Olympic champs, as they won gold in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, but this one meant so much more to them considering their painful journey to this point that had the players isolated away from their families five to six months because of the pandemic.
Jerry Tuwai, the team’s captain, said after the win:
“I nearly jumped camp because I missed them,” Tuwai said, crediting Fiji coach Gareth Baber for convincing him to see a bigger picture and keep the squad together “so we can continue the journey to Tokyo. We’ve been away from our family for about five or six months,” he added. “I think this one is special.”
That all makes this video of the team singing after getting their medals all the more emotional.
This is tremendous:
What a moment. Fiji’s rugby team sing their hearts out for their nation after winning gold. This is a team that had to come here on a freight plane, and spent months away from their families because of covid. pic.twitter.com/IdIQRpUuFS
— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) July 29, 2021
Twitter loved it:
