Rugby genius Michael Hooper will feature on the Olympic sevens stage after being forced into the spotlight among broadcasters despite suffering a devastating injury.
The former Test skipper could miss out on his second major event in France after being left out of the Wallabies’ campaign at the Rugby World Cup in France last year.
He is racing against time to recover from osteitis pubis to qualify for Australia’s 12-member sevens Olympic squad, with coach John Manenti expected to name his squad at the end of June.
Hooper was announced as part of Stan Sport pay-TV coverage in Paris alongside another former Wallaby Morgan Turinui and Rio Sevens gold medalist Alicia Lucas (nee Quirk).
It’s unclear how Hooper will juggle the role if he is selected to play.
The 125-cap veteran transitioned to seven caps over the summer, but his debut was delayed by calf and Achilles injuries and difficulties transitioning to a new genre of rugby.
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After impressive performances in the final two rounds of the World Sevens Series in Singapore and Hong Kong, the 32-year-old has been ruled out of the finals in Madrid from May 31 to June 2.
The top eight men’s and women’s teams will compete in a new finals format.
Manenti said Hooper’s absence from Madrid did not mean his Olympic dreams had been dashed and he would need to take time to recover from the problematic injury.
The Australian men’s sevens are scheduled to play Fiji on June 18-19 before traveling to a heat camp in Darwin, which will give Hooper one final chance to make his case.
The final squad of 12 athletes and two reserves must be submitted to the Australian Olympic Committee by June 30.
“He suddenly exploded,” Manenti told AAP.
“We just need to address it before it gets worse. (He’s) still in the frame and doing everything he can to make the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, Stan Sport began plans to cover the Olympics in Sydney on Wednesday.
From 26 July, Stan Sport will be the only place to watch all of the Paris 2024 events live, ad-free and on VOD in 4K Ultra HD.
Stan said eight international/multilingual live channels will be available. Viewers can watch official coverage from the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy (Eurosport), India (Viacom 18) and New Zealand (Sky New Zealand).
There will be two custom Stan shows. Olympic Daily and Paris Preview. Hosted by Tara Rushton and Adam Peacock, the show will include opinion and analysis each morning and evening from Australia’s most trusted Olympic stars including Ash Barty, Grant Hackett, Stephanie Rice, Nova Peris and John Steffensen.
