Well over 500 athletes will represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympics, but some American stars will be left to watch the Games from home.
Whether it was injuries that kept them out or simply failing to qualify for their respective sport, there are familiar names that won’t have a chance to compete on the Olympic stage.
Here is a look at 10 premier competitors who will not be participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
Caitlin Clark, women’s basketball
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She may be taking the WNBA by storm, but Caitlin Clark’s Olympic debut will have to wait.
The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer and top WNBA draft pick did not make the U.S. women’s basketball roster for Paris as it chases its eighth straight gold medal. Instead, the roster will include nine Olympic champions and three first-time Olympians in Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper, all of whom won gold with Team USA at the 2022 World Cup.
Clark took the roster decision in stride, and Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides said the rookie told her, “Hey coach, they woke a monster.”
Alex Morgan, women’s soccer
One of the U.S. women’s national team’s longtime leaders will not step onto the pitch in Paris.
Alex Morgan did not make Emma Hayes’ 18-player roster for the 2024 Olympics, marking the first time she will not be with the USWNT at a major tournament since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The 35-year-old forward said she was disappointed to miss the cut but that she will be “supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country.”
The USWNT roster for Paris has an average age of 26.8 years old, the fourth-youngest in program history for the Olympics. The team will look to bounce back from a round of 16 exit at last year’s Women’s World Cup as it chases its first Olympic gold since 2012.
Kawhi Leonard, men’s basketball
Kawhi Leonard will not be making his first Olympic appearance in Paris after all.
The six-time NBA All-Star was announced to the initial U.S. men’s basketball team roster. However, he was removed from the competition ahead of the team’s first pre-Olympic scrimmage, with USA Basketball and the Los Angeles Clippers citing that he should concentrate on his ramp-up for the 2024-25 NBA season.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White was named Leonard’s replacement on Team USA.
Athing Mu, track and field
Athing Mu’s hopes of an Olympic repeat came crashing down at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in June.
Mu ran onto the global scene at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she won the 800m gold medal at just 19 years old. She was poised to repeat as champion in the event, but she fell during the 800m final at the U.S. trials, keeping her from Olympic contention this summer.
She also won gold with Team USA in the 4x400m relay three years ago, but she was not named to the U.S. track and field relay pool for Paris.
Dalilah Muhammad, track and field
As it turns out, only one member of the gold-winning women’s 4x400m relay team from Tokyo will be heading to Paris.
Along with Mu’s disappointment at the U.S. trials and Allyson Felix’s retirement three years ago, Dalilah Muhammad will not be at the 2024 Olympics. At this year’s trials, Muhammad finished sixth in the women’s 400m hurdles, an event in which she won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With Mu, Felix and Muhammad all out, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be the only Team USA runner from the last 4x400m Olympic final with a chance to repeat in Paris.
Gabby Douglas, gymnastics
The three most recent Olympic all-around champions had a chance at competing for USA Gymnastics in Paris, but an injury ended the 2012 gold medalist’s chance at a comeback.
Gabby Douglas was looking to make a triumphant return to the Olympics after missing out on the 2020 Tokyo Games. The three-time Olympic gold medalist and all-around winner in London announced her gymnastics comeback in July 2023 and returned to competition in April.
However, an ankle injury forced Douglas to withdraw from the U.S. Championships in May, putting an end to her Paris pursuit. The 28-year-old said she intends to continue training with hopes of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Shilese Jones, gymnastics
Shilese Jones was poised to make her first Olympic appearance in Paris, but an injury at the Olympic trials dashed those hopes.
The 21-year-old gymnast already has six world championship medals to her name, and she was expected to solidify her spot on the U.S. Olympic team at the June trials. However, she suffered a knee injury while warming up on the first day of the women’s competition. She went on to post the highest score of anyone on the uneven bars before ultimately withdrawing from the competition.
Lydia Jacoby, swimming
Lydia Jacoby earned a stunning gold medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics. Three years later, she was on the other end of a shocking result.
The 20-year-old Alaska native placed third in the event final at the U.S. Olympic swim trials. Only the top two swimmers in each event at the U.S. trials qualify for the Olympics, and she was 0.27 seconds off the pace of second-place Emma Weber, who will be joined by five-time Olympic medalist Lilly King in the event at the Paris Games.
Bill May, artistic swimming
Bill May was looking to make Olympic history in Paris. The artistic swimming pioneer was looking to become the first man in the sport’s history to compete at the Olympics, following a 2022 rule change that allowed countries to bring up to two men to the Games.
However, the 45-year-old did not crack the U.S. roster, meaning the artistic swimming competition in Paris will be female-only this summer.
Jessica Springsteen, equestrian
Bruce Springsteen’s daughter will not have a chance to earn another Olympic medal this summer.
Jessica Springsteen took home a silver medal in the team jumping event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was in the mix to make another appearance at the Summer Games, but she was ultimately left off the U.S. Equestrian list for Paris.
