Caitlin Clark has vowed to battle back from missing out on selection for the Olympics after telling her coach that Team USA had “woken a monster” by leaving her out.
Indiana Fever rookie Clark was not among a 12-player roster named to defend the United States’ gold medal at Paris 2024, with WNBA stars including A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi set to lead their title charge.
The 22-year-old has become the most prominent face of women’s basketball over the last 12 months after a record-breaking college career at the University of Iowa, and was drafted first overall by the Fever in April.
Though her team are struggling, Clark is averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game and had put herself firmly in the selection mix for Paris.
But after narrowly missing out on Cheryl Reeve’s squad, Clark has stressed that she will keep working, particularly with the prospect of a home Games in four years’ time.
“I think it just gives you something to work for,” explained Clark. “It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully when four years comes back around [at the LA Olympics in 2028], I can be there.
“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team. I know it’s the most competitive team in the world, and I know it could have gone either way of me being on the team or me not being on the team. I’m excited for them. Going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics. It’ll be fun to watch them.
“They called me and let me know before everything came out, which was really respectful of them, and I appreciate that. They did the same for every girl that made the team or every girl that didn’t make the team. There’s a lot of players in the Olympic pool. It wasn’t like I was the only one they had to call. They had to make quite a few calls.”
Clark was twice the national player of the year while at Iowa, finishing her career with more points than any other Division I basketball player in history.
Though the adjustment to the greater speed and physicality of the WNBA has caused some teething problems, the point guard has begun to find her stride and was named rookie of the month for May.
And Fever head coach Christie Sides has revealed that Clark is intent on taking her game to another level after the snub.
“I was a litte disappointed of course,” Sides said. “She’s my player but that’s the hardest team in the world to make. She is young, she is going to have so many more opportunities in the future.
“She got the call on the bus and we talked. I just tried to keep her spirits up. She said, ‘hey coach, they’ve woken a monster’, which is awesome.”
The USA have won every gold medal in women’s basketball since the event’s introduction at Atlanta 1996.
