Caitlin Clark Uses 2024 Olympics Snub as Motivation

WNBA player Caitlin Clark issued a response to being left off Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Clark is in her first season with the Indiana Fever but was one of fourteen players invited to the final training camp on Apr. 3-5. As she was still a collegiate player at the time vying for the NCAA championship, she did not attend and expressed “no disappointment” to not be included in this year’s Olympics.

“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team,” Clark told reporters on Sunday. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world and I know it could’ve gone either way of me being on the team, me not being on the team. I’m excited for them. I’m gonna be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics, so it’ll be fun to watch them.”

The former Lady Hawkeye was the No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA. So far in her career, Clark scored over 30 points in two of the games won by the Fever. During her debut WNBA game, Clark tied for highest-scorer with Wings’s player and fellow rookie Jaelyn Brown. Still, Clark expressed she has room for growth before appearing in an Olympic game.

“I think it just gives you something to work for,” Clark said. “That’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully, in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there.”

Team USA has been undefeated in Olympic women’s basketball since 1996. Among those who made the roster is Brittney Griner. This is her fourth time on Team USA. It will also be the first time Griner will travel for the sport after being detained in Russia last year over vapes discovered in her luggage that contained hash oil, a type of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active chemical in marijuana.

The first game for Team USA in Paris is slated for July 29. Their first opponent will be Japan, which is fresh from its two wins against China in the Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament.