News With rugby victories for the Colombian women’s team and Argentine men’s team in the South American Rugby Sevens Championship held in Santa Fe, Argentina, on Sunday (07),  the two teams joined the list of five other men’s teams and five other women’s teams already qualified to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (as confirmed by International Federation) Uruguay and Chile came in second and third place in the men’s tournament, and in the women’s tournament, Argentina came second and Venezuela, third Despite missing the top spot, the second and third placed teams have qualified to compete in next year’s World Pre-Olympic Rugby Sevens Tournament and a last chance to fight for an Olympic spot in the sport In the women’s division, the battle for the championship was intense The title was decided in the last match of the tournament between Colombia and Argentina – whoever won, would take the South American title and the Olympic spot With the game tied and only ten seconds until full time, Colombia’s Guadalupe López managed to break through Argentina’s defence and score the deciding try (a move worth five points), which brought the closing score to 12-7 and secured an Olympic place for Colombia The new South American champion, Colombia, is in sixth place in the ranking for the women's rugby contest at Rio 2016 (Photo: Franco A Perego)It was an historic moment for rugby sevens in South America because, until now, Brazil’s female team have monopolized the women's South American Championships, winning all ten previous competitions However, this year Brazil did not take part, because as the host country, they are already guaranteed a place in the rio 2016 Games, and on Sunday, Colombia became the only other team in history to win the title In addition to this success, it is the first time that a Colombian rugby team has qualified for a tournament at global level “It feels incredible,” said Colombian team captain Alejandra Betancourt “We have managed to put Colombian rugby in a place it has never been before and going to an Olympic Games confirms that the hard work we put in paid off We had been preparing for the past three years for this game, for this moment We are delighted Our dreams have become reality ”In the men’s division, Argentina asserted its supremacy on the continent and won the tournament with a total of 308 points scored and only 10 conceded (all in the same match against Chile) In the last and deciding game against Uruguay, a quiet victory of 45-0 guaranteed the Olympic spot for the Argentine team led by coach, Santiago Gomez Cora “Although we tried to hide it, there was huge pressure to qualify for the Olympic Games,” said a relieved Gomez Cora, one of sevens' great heroes, now turned coach “We knew that the first day would be the hardest but that if we stuck to our systems, we should be in a position to go to Rio 2016 This team and the larger squad worked very hard so we are delighted now that we finally achieved that goal ” With 308 points scored and only 10 conceded, Los Pumas dominated the field in the men’s competition (Photo: Franco A Perego)These latest qualifications mean that half of the teams who will compete in rugby at the 2016 Olympics have already been decided In the men’s competition, Argentina joins South Africa, Brazil, Britain, Fiji and New Zealand Colombia’s women’s team will compete alongside Brazil, Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand in next year’s Games There are still six women’s and six men’s team vacancies left to be decided for the Rio 2016 rugby sevens competition Continental champions from North America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania will occupy five of those places, and they will be decided in the second half of 2015 The last remaining spot in each of the men’s and women’s divisions will go to the winners of the World Pre-Olympic Rugby Sevens Tournament, which will be held in 2016 The first four places in both the male and the female sections were decided in the World Series 2014/2015 As host country, Brazil is guaranteed a place in both the male and female competitions Rio2016 com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games) The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC) Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota   Colombia will compete at world level in rugby for the first time ever at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Photo: Franco A Perego)