Canadian women's basketball team named for Paris 2024 Olympics
National team legend Natalie Achonwa is going to her final Olympics.
Twelve players were named to Team Canada’s women’s basketball team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Tuesday, ahead of the tournament beginning on July 27.
Canada will be sending a team to the women’s basketball tournament at the Olympics for the fourth time in a row, and eighth time overall since the event debuted in Montreal in 1976. These Games will be the first time since Sydney 2000 that Canada is sending both a men’s and women’s basketball team, with the men’s roster yet to be announced. The women’s team qualified by finishing third at a FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments held in February.
Canada’s Olympic roster features seven players with WNBA experience, four of whom currently play in the league — Laeticia Amihere, Bridget Carleton, Aaliyah Edwards and Kia Nurse. That quartet will join the team later in the month, closer to the Games, while the rest of the team heads to Belgium and Spain for a training camp and exhibition games. Amihere, Carleton, and Edwards are going to their second Olympic Games, while Nurse is off to her third.
Nirra Fields is also heading to her third Olympics, while Kayla Alexander and Shay Colley are going to their second.
The most experienced player on the team, however, is co-captain Natalie Achonwa, who will become the first Canadian woman to appear in four Olympic basketball tournaments. She has already announced that this will be her final Olympics.
“It’s always an incredible honour to represent my country at an Olympic Games,” said Achonwa in a press release. “Regardless of the tournament or competition, the pride I feel putting on a Canada jersey is always the same. And knowing this is my last time in that jersey, I want to cherish every second of this journey.
“As a team, our focus and messaging have been the same all quad. We’re all invested in the grind and putting in the work together now to be our absolute best when the lights come on in Paris.”
Four players – Yvonne Ejim, Sami Hill, Cassandre Prosper and Syla Swords – will make their Olympic debut. At 18 years old, Swords will become the youngest basketball player to ever play for Canada at the Olympic Games, 24 years after her father Shawn played for Canada at Sydney 2000.
Canada’s head coach, Víctor Lapeña, was an assistant coach with Spain’s women’s team that picked up a silver medal at Rio 2016. Since being named head coach of Canada in 2022, he has led the team to a 17-7 record in FIBA competitions and is now looking to get the Canadian women onto the Olympic podium for the first time.
“We’re excited about the team we’ve built to proudly represent Canada this summer in Paris,” said Lapeña in a press release. “After finishing fourth in the last World Cup, we’re looking to take that next step as a program. Eight players on the team have previously represented Canada at the Olympic Games, and this experience will undoubtedly prove invaluable in key moments throughout the tournament.
“As we prepare for the Games over the next several weeks, we will continue to prioritize getting better as a group every day until the end of the Olympics.”
Canada’s best Olympic result in women’s basketball was a fourth-place finish at Los Angeles 1984. They also finished fourth at the most recent FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022.
The Olympic tournament will take place from July 27 to August 11, with Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille hosting the preliminary phase, before the final phase moves to Bercy Arena in Paris.
Full Canada roster:
Natalie Achonwa (Guelph, Ont.)
Kayla Alexander (Milton, Ont.)
Laeticia Amihere (Mississauga, Ont.)
Bridget Carleton (Chatham, Ont.)
Shay Colley (Brampton, Ont.)
Aaliyah Edwards (Kingston, Ont.)
Yvonne Ejim (Calgary, Alta.)
Nirra Fields (Montreal, Que.)
Sami Hill (Toronto, Ont.)
Kia Nurse (Hamilton, Ont.)
Cassandre Prosper (Montreal, Que.)
Syla Swords (Sudbury, Ont.)
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