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Caleb Clarke chasing Olympic dream after Comm Games glory denied by surgery

May 10, 2021

Clarke rejoined the All Blacks Sevens this week hoping to book a spot to Tokyo.

The All Blacks' breakout player of 2020 has opened up on his decision to put everything on hold to chase an Olympic dream.

Caleb Clarke has rejoined the All Blacks Sevens setup in Mt Maunganui and will miss games for the Blues and All Blacks to focus on Tokyo.

Clarke told 1 NEWS he made the call last year.

“I just said, ‘hey, look, I wanna have a go at the Olympics,’ so I put my name forward to try and get selected. “

The 22-year-old said he nervously broke the news to All Blacks coach Ian Foster at Sydney Airport after his breakout season last year.

“That was definitely scary,” he said.

“Definitely had to pray a lot, pray for guidance [but] he was really supportive, I was really happy.

“We hugged at the end so it was good.”

Clarke was part of the last Commonwealth Games squad but missed out on a gold medal due to emergency appendix surgery.

He was replaced in that squad by Chiefs winger Etene Nanai-Seturo, but now both are chasing Olympic selection along with Highlanders winger Vilimoni Koroi.

Another All Blacks Sevens project, Salesi Rayasi, has opted to stick with the Hurricanes but for Clarke, an Olympic medal would be the ultimate achievement.

“I can look back when I'm old and can't run anymore but I can think back to a good time in 2021 when I was at the Olympics.”

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