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Jen Kish always wanted to be an Olympian, but was not certain if she would ever get the opportunity.

It wasn’t because the Edmonton product lacked motivation, drive or commitment. She has that in spades.

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Her calling simply was not an Olympic event until now, when rugby sevens makes its debut in Rio.

“The Olympics are something that I always wanted to go to as an athlete and compete in,” Kish said. “What inspired me to go to the Olympics was watching the women’s hockey team compete in 2002. I saw them on TV, and I was so inspired and that’s what I saw myself doing. The dream was kind of put on the back-burner because I ended up in a sport that wasn’t part of the Olympics, so I shifted my goal to the World Cups, which is the next biggest thing in sport.

“Now that I’m going to the Olympics, I have moments of ‘Is this actually happening?’”

Kish, 28, is considered one of the best rugby sevens players in the world and captains an upstart Canadian team in Rio. She was introduced to rugby in high school after playing football for W.P. Wagner and took to the sport immediately.