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The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her United States rugby teammates before the gold-medal game in Hong Kong in April. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. The main task for Sullivan and teammates like Ilona Maher — the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics — is winning a medal. It's also the ambition for a U.S. men's team that includes Perry Baker, a two-time world sevens player of the year. Despite being competitive in world series events, the U.S. hasn't won an Olympic medal in rugby sevens since the sport was introduced in 2016.
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