[1][2] Isles and his twin sister, Tambra, grew up in Akron, Ohio in foster homes, rarely seeing their mother.

[3][4] Carlin Isles was a gifted American football and track and field athlete while attending Jackson High School (Massillon, Ohio).

Carlin was a two-time, back-to-back OATCCC Indoor State Champion in high school in the 60m dash running 6.83 seconds which was a Division I meet record up until March 2012.

In his senior year at Jackson High School, Isles ran a 4.28 second, electronically timed 40 yard dash.

Isles continued running track and playing American football while enrolled at Ashland University where he was an All-American in the 60m dash and ran a personal best of 6.68 seconds which is a school record.

On the football field, Carlin was an All-GLIAC selection and holds school records for most kickoff return yardage in a game (174 yards) and longest kickoff return for TD (100 yards) Before taking up rugby in 2012, Isles ranked as the 36th fastest sprinter in the United States with a 100 metres outdoor legal personal best of 10.15 seconds (and a windy 10.13 s)..[6] Isles took up the sport of rugby in 2012.

[2] The video closes with the words of long-time IRB commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith: I've never seen anyone that quick on a rugby field ever ever, XVs or Sevens.

He completed this feat in a 19–17 victory match against Samoa during the 2019-20 World Rugby Sevens Series in Los Angeles.