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
Italy at the 2012 Summer Olympics Italy at the 2012 Summer Olympics Italy competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This nation has competed at every Summer Olympic games in the modern era, except for the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. The Italian National Olympic Committee (Italian: "Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI") sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. A total of 285 athletes, 162 men and 123 women, competed in 22 sports. Italy left London with a total of 28 Olympic medals (8 gold, 9 silver,