Rugby union at the Summer Olympics Rugby union at the Summer Olympics Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games, being played at four of the first seven competitions. The sport debuted at the 1900 Paris games where the gold medal was won by the host nation. It was subsequently featured at the London games in 1908, the Antwerp games in 1920 and the Paris games in 1924. The United States is the most successful nation in Olympic rugby tournaments, having won the gold medal in both 1920 and 1924; France has the most medals, one gold (in 1900) and
New Zealand at the Olympics at the Summer Games. The most successful sports have been rowing and athletics with 24 medals each; sailing follows closely behind with 22 medals. New Zealand's three winter medals have come in alpine skiing in 1992 and in snowboarding and freestyle skiing in 2018. The 120 medals won by New Zealand put New Zealand at number 34 on the all-time Olympic Games medal table for total number of medals and number 26 when weighted by medal type. After the 2016 Summer Olympics, 1371 competitors have represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games. Harry Kerr is considered the first Kiwi Olympian