New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia are left chasing Olympic gold

The best women’s rugby sevens players in the world dazzled more than 120,000 fans inside Stade de France across two competition sessions with their outstanding talent and athleticism as the Paris 2024 Olympic semi-final line-up was defined following an enthralling day of sevens action.

New Zealand will face USA, while Canada meet Australia in the semi-finals on Tuesday afternoon following a thrilling set of quarter-finals that resulted in heartbreak for hosts France.

Four New Zealand players scored twice as they beat China 55-5 to set a new points record for a women’s rugby sevens match at an Olympic Games, beating the 53 Australia had scored against Colombia at Rio 2016.

That record win set up a semi-final meeting with USA, who came back after conceding an early try to beat Great Britain 17-7 in an intensely competitive quarter-final.

Meanwhile, Canada broke French hearts with a 19-14 victory in a hugely physical encounter, and Maddison Levi scored a hattrick to take her Paris 2024 tally to 11 and break Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s long-standing individual Olympic tournament try record as Australia convincingly beat Ireland 40-7 to make up the final four.