Madison Hughes never got to watch his favorite sport in the Olympics growing up. Now, with rugby back in the Olympic lineup for the first time in nearly a century, he’ll get to experience it first-hand as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.

“I always watched the Olympics growing up and dreamed of competing in it,” said Hughes, who as a kid, hoped to become a professional athlete. “The Olympics is the pinnacle of world sport; you have the best athletes in the world coming together, all trying to put in their best performance on the biggest stage. Never having been to an Olympics, I can only imagine the atmosphere this creates, but I can’t wait to experience it.”

Rugby hasn’t been part of the Olympics since 1924. Though the U.S. won back-to-back gold medals in 1920 and 1924, without the Olympics, the sport lost its luster in America. In the 1960s, rugby experienced a rebirth, leading to the creation of men’s and women’s national teams and a governing body. (The United States of America Rugby Football Union, now known as USA Rugby, was established in 1975.)

The sport has gone through yet another renaissance since the hiring of Coach Mike Friday in July 2014. He has helped take the men’s national team from the bottom to one of the top seeds in the world. One of Friday’s first duties was tapping Hughes as captain, despite his being the team’s youngest rugger.

“I think there were a few factors that caused him to look to me, my inexperience, perhaps, being one of them,” Hughes said. “We were embarking on a new era as a team, and as I’d only been on the team for a short period, I could perhaps embody this new spirit more than some of my veteran teammates. I had also been growing into a leadership role, and I think I am quite good at creating an environment where the team must always come first, which helps on a team as diverse as ours.”

Hughes, who grew up in London, began playing rugby at the age of 7. Because it’s one of the biggest sports in England, rugby was something he fell into and immediately fell in love with. Hughes became a high school standout at Wellington College and chose to continue his career and studies at Dartmouth College.

“I knew that my dream college would have high-level academics, as well as high-level rugby, and having spent quite a lot of time in New England, I decided that I wanted to stay in the northeast,” said Hughes, who grew up spending summers at his grandmother’s house in Lancaster, Mass., where his parents recently bought a house.

At Dartmouth, Hughes led the team to a championship in 2012 and was named to the Collegiate Rugby Championship All-Tournament team three times. Meanwhile, Hughes became a key part of the U.S. age-grade teams, playing in tournaments across the world and commuting between Dartmouth and the Olympic Training Center in California, all while balancing his schoolwork.
“I had to make sacrifices, and my social life took quite a hit, but I knew that I wanted to finish my degree, as well as pursue my Olympic dream,” Hughes said.

Thanks to his mother’s Leominster upbringing, Hughes has dual citizenship in America and England. “My decision to play for the U.S. was one I took over the course of quite a long time,” he said. “As I got closer to the national team, I knew that I wanted to represent the USA, and I have not regretted my decision for a second.”

Hughes said that winning a medal in Rio will be tough, but it’s a challenge for which the team is ready. “We have shown that when we play up to our potential, we can beat any team in the world,” he explained, adding that the team won its first tournament at the London Sevens last year. “Now, we need to develop a consistent level of performance where we are no longer talking about potential but maintaining our standards game after game. The Olympics will be the biggest stage a rugby sevens player has ever appeared on, so we need to be ready to play to our peak in every game.”

The fact that Team USA is rugby’s defending gold medalist is something Hughes said the community can take pride in; however, they’re not necessarily using the 1924 victory as motivation. “I would love it if our team could write a successful next chapter for USA rugby in the Olympics,” he added.

In the meantime, Hughes is enjoying the ride. “I don’t think my dreams stretched this high,” he said. “To represent my country with my teammates is an incredible honor, and everything so far has surpassed my wildest expectations. Now I’m dreaming higher, though, and we’ll work very hard to ensure that the best is yet to come.”

For more, visit teamusa.org. The Olympics begin Aug. 5.

By Kimberly Dunbar