France captain Antoine Dupont will sit out this season's Six Nations to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) told AFP on Wednesday.
Dupont, 27, will miss the competition in order to participate in legs of the World Rugby seven-a-side circuit, now known as SVNS.
His club Toulouse, the FFR and Dupont are set to hold a press conference on Monday, 250 days from the start of the Games, when they are expected to announce Dupont's intentions.
Dupont will join France's Sevens squad in January before SVNS events in Vancouver in February and Los Angeles in March.
Scrum-half Dupont's most recent appearance for France was last month's agonising World Cup quarter-final defeat to eventual winners South Africa at the Stade de France.
The stadium will also host next July's Sevens competitions at the Games.
As far back as last December, Dupont opened the door to playing in the event, which first featured in the Olympics in 2016.
"It's highly motivating," Dupont told RTL.
"It's incredible when you see the enthusiasm it can create. There is a desire from my side to put things in place for me to participate.
"It will be a discussion between the different coaching staffs," he added.
Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper (below) is also set to make a move into the shorter form of the game, confirming on Thursday he will be linking up with Australia's Sevens programme.
The 32-year-old flanker, who was a shock omission from the Wallabies squad for this year's World Cup in France, will potentially have six rounds of the SVNS tour to earn a place in the squad for the Olympics.
"The transition is something I have thought a lot about and I'm extremely motivated by the challenge of playing Sevens and trying to earn my way into this team," Hooper, who won 125 caps for the Wallabies said in a Rugby Australia statement.
Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi was part of the Australia squad that was knocked out of the quarter-finals of the last Olympic tournament in Tokyo but Hooper will be unusual in making the switch from the forwards in the 15-man game.
Hooper did play in the centres as a youngster before moving into the pack and was renowned for his endurance in the 15-man game.
He knows, however, that he has a lot to learn and a big physical transition to make to prepare for the lung-busting seven-man version of the game.
"I've trained with these guys. They are hungry and can run forever," he added in an interview on Channel Nine.
"I'm one of the bigger guys in the team which is very unusual. It should be great."
Additional reporting: Reuters
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