Team member and silver medalist at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Andrew Knewstubb, said they expect the tournament to be more challenging than previous Olympic tournaments, especially with the competitiveness of the World Sevens Series over the past two years.
"A lot of the games were being decided on a kick, penalty call, or one mistake. It's extremely tight, but it makes for awesome viewing for everyone at home.
"It also brings the best out of every team. You've got to be on your game all the time, so it's going to be really tight."
New Zealand will play its first game of the Olympic Games on Thursday against Japan at 4am (NZT).
The men finish their first day playing South Africa at 7:30am and then play Ireland at 2:30am on Friday.
Knewstubb said he was 'super excited' to be in Paris, especially after the challenges he had endured to make it. That included consecutive ACL tears that kept him out of the game for nearly two years.
"It was always the goal to get back here, so living out that dream was pretty unreal.
"Now, we've got one more goal: to win that gold. I'm the best prepared I can be, and now I'm looking forward to dipping in, and I know the rest of the boys are.
Knewstubb said they enjoyed their pre-Games camp, and while they were already 'an extremely partnered group', it was good to connect more while doing hard work along the way.
"It's been awesome for us as a culture."