Isla Norman-Bell made the perfect start to life as an Olympian with a stunning solo try at the Stade de France for GB’s rugby sevens squad.
Gillingham-born Norman-Bell, who moved to New Zealand as a toddler, returned to her homeland at the start of 2022 and competed in that summer’s Commonwealth Games as part of Team England.
And she could not have asked for a better way to mark her debut on the biggest stage of all, popping up to receive Meg Jones’ pass and sprint in from 60 yards against Ireland as GB responded instantly to going behind in Sunday’s victory over Ireland.
Norman-Bell’s side went on to win 21-12 and she was beaming about her Olympic bow despite a bruising 36-5 defeat against Australia later in the day.
“It’s super special,” she said. “It is something I’ve always dreamed of since I started playing sport aged five.
“I knew I was going to do it. I initially thought it would be the athletics, but here I am in the sevens.
“It’s just super cool to be here, the crowd is amazing and to have family out there as well is super special.
“For the try, I just was on Meg’s shoulder, supporting like a good playmaker should be. It was a very good ball, and we executed the game plan well.”
Norman-Bell is soon to be joined back in the UK by her mum and brother, who are among those supporting her in Paris.
GB’s sevens stars were among the first to arrive in the athlete’s village and the wide-eyed 24-year-old is still taking it all in.
“It’s been like nothing I could have ever imagined, really,” she said. “The group of girls that I get to this with as well has made this experience so much better.
“The past two weeks have been amazing; we had our prep camp at Saint-Germain and then went into the village.
“It is huge, the first day, we went into the big main dining hall. It was super overwhelming, but now we are used to it. It’s special.”
Norman-Bell got a taste of the quality of the opposition at Olympic level against Australia, who roared back after GB went ahead through Heather Cowell inside two minutes.
Maddison Levi added a hat-trick to her four tries against South Africa earlier in the day as the 2016 gold medallists ran in six scores in total.
Team GB were also beaten in Monday’s quarter-final by the USA 17-7 and will contest the fifth-eighth place play-offs on Tuesday.
Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.
