Rugby dream remains
IT has been little over a year since Edward Osei-Nketia last delved into the realm of rugby, but the 19-year-old sprint sensation has no intention of giving up his sevens dream.
The track and field star made headlines at the beginning of 2019 when he registered one of the quickest sprint times seen by a Kiwi.
At the age of just 17, Osei-Nketia blitzed his way to the New Zealand 100m national title, and followed that up with an Australian championship just weeks later.
Having spent time growing up in Canberra, Athletics Australia were eager for Osei-Nketia to don the green and gold singlet on the international stage.
It was in Sydney where the then-schoolboy clocked a blistering time of 10.19s, making him the fourth-fastest New Zealand sprinter in history.
Two months later, Osei-Nketia claimed the Oceania crown in Townsville, which qualified him for the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where he came within 0.01s of qualifying for the semi-finals with a 100m time of 10.24s.
Intrigue in his sporting future spiked a few months prior to his impressive feats in Qatar, though, when the youngster revealed his ambitions to pursue a career in rugby shortly after winning the New Zealand title.
Osei-Nketia has never shied away from his voicing his interest in the oval ball code, having previously outlined his ambition to play Test rugby.
“It was an amazing experience, being in a team environment and just seeing what the sevens life is all about. I actually loved it,” he told RugbyPass. Since then, though, rugby has taken a back seat as he continues his qualification journey to the Tokyo Olympics
as a track and field athlete.
“Just been throwing the ball to myself, kicking the ball just for fun, but nothing really serious with the rugby training,” OseiNketia said of his involvement in rugby since the Ignite 7s.
That isn’t to say the speedster has lost his desire to try his hand at rugby, a sport he made a name for himself in while attending St Edmund’s College in Canberra, where he claims to have scored two to three tries per match.