Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Culture > Entertainment

Caitlin Clark Being Left Off The 2024 Olympics Roster Has The Internet Divided

Kayleigh Shaw

Whether you keep up with sports regularly or have just seen her appear on your FYP, you’ve probably heard of Caitlin Clark. At just 22-years-old, she’s currently a guard for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and is regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. Since rising to fame, Clark’s has partnered with companies such as State Farm and Gaterade and even made a guest appearance on an episode on Saturday Night Live. 

Despite her overwhelming popularity, Clark was left off the roster for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team. Team USA announced their Women’s Basketball roster on June 11 and many were shocked to see that Clark was not on it. 

So, why wasn’t Clark wasn’t chosen for the 2024 Olympic Women’s Basketball Team?

According to the selection committee, there are “11 pieces” of criteria athletes need to meet to compete at the Olympic Games, including “U.S. citizenship, availability, position, playing ability, versatility to play other positions, coachability, attitude, adaptability to team concept, leadership, adaptability to international game and likelihood of contributing to success of team.” 

The chair of USA Basketball, Jen Rizotti, explained that there were  “other players that were harder to cut because they checked a lot more boxes.” She added, “Sometimes it comes down to position, style of play for Cheryl (Reeve) and then sometimes a vote.”

Since the roster was announced, both lifelong and recent fans of Clark have taken to the internet to express their thoughts on her not being on the 2024 Olympic team. While some believe she deserves to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, others simply don’t agree.

@speakonfs1

@Joy Taylor speaks on Caitlin Clark not being selected for the Team USA roster. 🇺🇸 🏀 #caitlinclark #teamusa #wnba

♬ original sound – Speak
@sportswithjules

What donyou think? #caitlinclark #usa #usabasketball #olympics #2024olympics

♬ original sound – Sports with Jules
@erica_joness

Biggest snub in olympic roster history?? #caitlinclark #olympics #womensbasketball #wnba

♬ original sound – ERICA JONES
@simplysimone

This girl literally just got here #caitlinclark #wnba #olympicroster

♬ Sneaky Snitch – Kevin MacLeod
@mackenziejayy_

Its just not Calitin Clark’s time right now to be on the Olympic Team nothing is wrong with that. #caitlinclark #olympics #wnba

♬ original sound – mackenzie
@rademita

make it make sense 🙂

♬ original sound – Rachel DeMita

While some fans aren’t too happy Clark wasn’t chosen to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games, it seems she holds no bitterness towards this as she’s had nothing but good things to say about the athletes who were picked.

“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics. It’ll be fun to watch,” she said after an Indiana Fever practice on June 9.“I think it just gives me something to work for. It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. Hopefully, when four years comes back, I can be there.” 

Born and raised in Arizona, Kayleigh Shaw is a Her Campus National Writer. She mainly writes for the Culture section, primarily focused on the latest entertainment news, but will occasionally write about life and career, giving advice to a wide array of readers. Outside of Her Campus, Kayleigh was also a part of Rod Pulido’s Street Team for his debut novel, Chasing Pacquiao and completed social media challenges to promote the book. She also hopes to one day write for Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources. where she will continue to use her love of all things pop culture to her advantage. She also graduated from Glendale Community College in May 2022 with an Associate's Degree in English. When Kayleigh's not working on journalism pieces, she can be found writing poems and short stories, reading, watching TikToks, listening to their favorite podcasts, listening and dancing to Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift, watching movies and TV shows on Netflix and Hulu (while crying over fictional characters and relationships.) She would live in a library and avoid the rest of the world if she could. She also drinks coffee like a Gilmore and often goes down rabbit holes researching their hyper fixations.