Plenty of athletes will be competing at this year's Pan American Games with an eye on the 2012 London Olympics, while others are even looking ahead to the 2016 Rio Games. The Pan Am Games, which opened Friday, bring together athletes from 42 nations across the Americas to compete in sports such as swimming and track, cycling and gymnastics. But there are other sports less familiar to many, including rugby sevens. The smaller, faster version of 15-a-side rugby union is making its debut at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, and the sport will make its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro. The United States is the defending Olympic champion in rugby. The Americans won the gold medal in the larger version of the sport at the 1924 Paris Games, the last time rugby was on the Olympic program. Rugby sevens gained its inclusion for the 2016 Games after an International Olympic Committee vote in 2009. Golf was also added. But the sports that missed out at that session will still be contested in Guadalajara, like baseball, softball, squash, roller sports and karate. “(Squash) should be an Olympic sport,” Colombian player Miguel Angel Rodriguez said. “One of the problems is that it is an elitist sport. They should imitate tennis and create public courts so people can feel attracted to it.” Other non-Olympic sports at the Pan Am Games include water skiing, bowling, racquetball and pelota. In the more traditional sports, the Pan American Games will be used by many as a chance to qualify for the London Olympics.
