Caitlin Clark breaks her silence on Olympic snobbery

Caitlin Clark doesn’t mind being left off the U.S. team for the upcoming Paris Olympics, but the snub has apparently set a fire in her stomach.

“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team,” she told reporters on Sunday, according to ESPN. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world, and I knew it could have gone either way: whether I was on the team or whether I wasn’t on the team. team. I’m excited for them. I will cheer them on to win gold.

“Honestly, no disappointment. It just gives me a reason to work; it is a dream. I hope one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember it. I hope in four years I can be there.

Meanwhile, Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides said Clark reacted very differently in private.

“What she said was, ‘Hey, Coach, they woke up a monster,’ which I thought was awesome,” Sides said. “She is young, she will have so many opportunities in the future.”

The coach said Clark learned she failed to qualify Friday. Hours later, the 22-year-old scored 30 points against the Washington Mystics, including 7 three-pointers, in a victorious game in front of one of the largest crowds in WNBA history.

“It felt good to shoot the ball well,” she said after the game, according to the Associated Press. “I feel like even my failures were there.”

The league will take a three-week break for the Olympic Games, which begin in less than two months. The star-studded U.S. team would include former gold medalists like Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart.

Team USA has dominated women’s basketball at the Olympics in recent years, winning the gold medal at every Summer Games since 1996. Even without Clark, the team is widely considered the favorite to win again in Paris.