LONG READ Holistic Olympic ambitions for Team GB’s captain Emma Uren

Emma Uren admitted that she cried ‘plenty of happy tears’ when she was asked to captain her country at the Olympic Games in Paris – but she is well aware of the responsibility she bears.

The Olympics is the pinnacle of rugby sevens. Just making the cut puts someone in a select group of the world’s best players. 

From this group an even more exclusive club forms: players who have the honour to captain their country and lead out  their team on the biggest stage of them all. 

Uren has been here before. She captained Great Britain several times during the inaugural HSBC SVNS 2024 Series. And this is Emma’s second Olympics. She was part of the Great Britain squad that finished fourth at Tokyo 2020, losing 21-12 to Fiji in the bronze medal match.

But being asked to do the job in Paris was a cue for an emotional response. 

“You push so much to become an Olympian,” she said. “So to be asked to be captain was huge and there were plenty of happy tears.”

But the memory of that defeat in Tokyo serves as a reminder of how cruel the sport can be – further highlighted by the fact that Abbie Brown, one of Emma’s best friends and long-time captain, has missed the trip to Paris due to injury. 

Brown and Uren are part of Team GB’s wider leadership group. It helps navigate the team through training and tournaments, so that the pressure of captaincy isn’t just lumped onto one person. 

Uren has been a part of this group for several years. She said that becoming captain has not changed for her from a leadership perspective, apart from speaking in huddles more. 

Within these environments, she often speaks about how she feels. This ties in with her wider philosophies around team environment and culture, where she wants everyone to feel comfortable expressing themselves on and off the pitch. 

We win in extra time 🔥👏

An exhausting passage of play, but Emma Uren scores to beat Fiji pic.twitter.com/08Ong9OthD

— GB Rugby Sevens (@GBRugbySevens) March 3, 2024

Uren knows that every captain leads in a different manner so she’s able to put her own twist on it. For her, she always wants to lead by example, with a strong emphasis on enjoying every moment of the journey. 

She took this lesson from Tokyo, where she felt a comedown following the event. Those Games were uniquely difficult, delayed by the pandemic and played in an empty stadium. And the athletes faced additional restrictions in the Olympic village. 

The result is the result in Paris

Diving further into Uren’s sporting career it is easy to see why she values personal enjoyment so highly. She was a competitive swimmer chasing national times until the age of 16 when she fell ill due to the intensive training, falling out of love with the sport. 

Her time as a talented swimmer shaped her leadership style. She says any environment that has allowed her to truly be herself has always got the best out of her. 

Paris promises a return of a high-energy Olympics after a subdued Tokyo. Uren is most looking forward to the noise at a busy Stade de France. She also can’t wait to see her family in the crowd when she leads the team out of the tunnel. 

Team GB recently competed at the Hamburg 7s, where they narrowly lost to France in the final. Uren said she was pleased with the team’s performance in Germany, straight off the back of a heavy two weeks of training. 

They were able to put together the phases they wanted and string together consistent performances, she said.

With a good feeling in camp, Uren has been busily reinforcing the message that ‘the result is the result in Paris’. Her philosophy is simple: players should concentrate on loving every moment of the journey. 

You may only get one chance to play at the Olympics, so embrace all the highs and the lows that come with it. 

Don’t worry about what people think and express yourself

Uren said that she hopes this Olympics showcases the sport in the best light. She sees sevens as a great starting point for anyone new to rugby. 

But, she said, younger fans of the game should play a range of sports – a multi-sport approach will help overall sporting ability and enjoyment.

She also recommends taking as many opportunities to play sevens as possible, such as in tournaments during the summer. “Don’t worry about what people think and express yourself,” is her only advice.

She points out that she didn’t know everything to do with rugby when she made the switch from swimming but she was confident her energy on and off the pitch would help her develop and improve while enjoying.   

This approach has worked for her as she has climbed through the ranks and now finds herself captain of Team GB for the Olympic Games in Paris.