12 Athletes Who Were Snubbed From The 2024 Paris Olympics

Excitement is building for the 2024 Summer Olympic games, set to take place in Paris. Predictions are already being made about who'll be achieving Olympic glory, with high stakes and fierce rivalries along the way. Eyes will be cast, for example, toward gymnast Simone Biles, who's poised to make a comeback after she stunned fans by pulling herself out of competition from 2020's Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. Meanwhile, the pressure is on swimmer Katie Ledecky, who will very likely add a few more medals to her impressive resume that already consists of seven gold medals and three silver.

Yet before the Olympic torch even arrives in Paris, controversy has already been sparked about athletes who were widely expected to compete — but instead were not chosen to represent their respective countries. To find out more about these competitors and the controversies surrounding the decisions to keep them on the bench, keep on reading to explore the stories behind 12 athletes who were snubbed from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

When Team Great Britain announced the list of athletes heading to Paris in 2024, one conspicuous absence was shot putter Amelia Campbell. Campbell had distinguished herself by winning gold medals at the 2018 British Athletics Championships and the 2020 British Indoor Athletics Championships. Furthermore, she won the shot put at the 2024 edition of the U.K. Athletics Championships, which also served as the Olympic trials for the Paris games.

While that would have seemingly made her a shoo-in, Campbell was passed over due to a new two-stage qualification criteria that combined meeting an Olympic standard with the athlete's world ranking. While her ranking — 38th in the world — qualified her for the Olympics, her longest throw was 18.18 meters, slightly below the Olympic standard of 18.80. As a result, it was determined she hadn't met the criteria.

Campbell was devastated, to put it mildly. "I'm very much considering retirement," Campbell told Reuters (via ESPN). "I want to retire because there seems to be no point in me mentally and physically pushing myself to these limits, to be let down repeatedly. These are my seventh championships that I will have been denied. I made Tokyo [Olympic selection criteria] as well. It's just a joke." Campbell (who goes by her maiden name, Strickler, on social media), also shared her dismay in an Instagram post. "These policies are not right," she wrote. "They are killing the sport I have loved for most of my life."

As is usually the case when it comes to Olympic basketball, the 2024 roster for Team USA included the crème de la crème of the NBA, featuring such top stars as LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. One name that was surprisingly absent from the team Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving. The first pick in the 2011 draft, Irving has played in eight NBA All-Star games and was a member of the team that won gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

So why was one of the NBA's most talented athletes snubbed from Team USA? There's a case to be made that Irving's tendency to generate controversy may have had something to do with it, but Irving offered a far simpler explanation. "I just didn't fit into this team," Irving said to reporters after a Mavericks practice, as reported by CNN. "The deliberation process was a tough one. But again, I have nothing but respect for those guys over at USAB."

According to Irving, a relative newcomer to Dallas, had he been chosen for the team, he would have seen the Olympics as a distraction from his primary goal of taking the Mavericks to the NBA finals. "At this point in my career, I think my focus should be on winning a championship and in the summertime just going to support those guys when I get a chance," he added.

Another omission from the U.S. men's basketball team was the Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown. Not only had he just helped lead the team to win the 2024 NBA championship, he also stated a desire to play in Paris, declaring, "Playing for USA Basketball, there is no greater honor ... Being able to participate would be very cool."

Brown was presumably surprised he didn't make the team, and issued a cryptic tweet: three puzzled-looking face emojis, each wearing a monocle. He then tweeted, "@nike this what we doing?" Among those who interpreted that as a claim that he was passed over due to earlier criticism of Nike was ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith. "Do y'all believe me now?" Smith tweeted. "How in the h*** is a $300M man — now a champion and an NBA Finals MVP — who's clearly a top-two player on the @celtics and a Top-15 player in the world, NOT chosen for Team-USA?"

USA Basketball men's managing director Grant Hill, however, insisted that didn't factor into his decision-making. "You get 12 spots, and you have to build a team," Hill said (via USA Today), admitting it was a tough call. "But the responsibility that I have is to put together a team and a team that compliments each other ... a team that will give us the best opportunity for success. And so whatever theories that might be out there, they're just that."

Jessica Rae Springsteen — daughter of rock legend Bruce Springsteen and singer Patti Scialfa — has carved out a niche in the world of sports thanks to her horse jumping skills. In fact, she's a world-class equestrian who has become a fixture at international tournaments — and was a member of the team that won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Jessica made it onto the short list for the 2024 games in Paris, but when the time arrived to announce the members of the U.S. jumping team, her name was not on the list. U.S. Equestrian selected Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut, and McLain Ward, along with alternate Karl Cook (a.k.a. ex-husband of "The Big Bang Theory" alum Kaley Cuoco) for the U.S. Jumping Team.

Her omission from the team meant that her parents wouldn't be able to experience the thrill of watching her compete in the Olympics in person — something they weren't able to do when she took home a silver medal in Tokyo. "Tokyo 2020 was such an incredible experience, but because of that year and all the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, you know, you couldn't have your family and your friends there," she explained in an interview with Harper's Bazaar. "So I was like, oh my gosh, I would love to go to another Olympics and be able to share that with my family, who've been so supportive of my career for so many years."

WBNA phenom Caitlin Clark is arguably one of the league's biggest stars, described by the Los Angeles Times as no less than "the most popular women's basketball player in the world." Fans of the sport were understandably confused when the players were announced for Team USA, and Clark's name was nowhere to be seen. As the LA Times pointed out, not only is this a sorely missed opportunity to bring much-deserved buzz the league, but the reported reason underlying the decision is dubious, to say the least. According to USA Today, sources claimed that Basketball USA officials were concerned that Clark's legions of fans would be disappointed by her "limited playing time" amid a "stacked roster" of players — so decided to leave her out entirely.

Clark took the high road when she subsequently commented on her Olympics snub. "Honestly, no disappointment," Clark said, as reported by Deadline. "I think it just gives you something to work for. It's a dream, hopefully one day I can be there. I think it's just a little bit more motivation. You remember that and hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there."

When asked about why Clark wasn't selected to compete in Paris, USA Basketball men's managing director Grant Hill distanced himself from the decision, emphasizing he was in charge of the men's team, not the women's. "I have nothing to do with it!" he declared.

Golf fans in the Netherlands had celebrated when four Dutch golfers qualified to compete in Paris at the 2024 games. Celebration turned to confusion, however, when Dutch Olympic officials announced that just one of the four — Anne van Dam — would be competing in the 2024 games.

That decision came from the Netherlands Golf Federation, reasoning that the rankings of the other three weren't high enough to give them a realistic shot at a medal — so why bother? "According to them, it has not been demonstrated that there is a reasonable chance of a top-eight ranking during the Olympic Games," the organization said in a statement to AP.

The decision irked golfer Joost Luiten, one of the three who weren't allowed to go to Paris. He defiantly announced that he intended to take the matter to court. "We will put our case in front of a judge and get an independent judgement!" he wrote in an Instagram post. In a follow-up post, he revealed he won the case and then announced he was going to Paris after all. After thanking his lawyers, and the court for hearing his case so quickly, he expressed his excitement over his legal victory. "Looking forward to the @olympics," he wrote.

In the world of Australian field hockey, Rosie Malone is a bona fide superstar. Seen as a shoo-in for Australia's Olympic team, the Hockeyroos, she was shockingly snubbed for the team in July 2024. Malone appealed the decision, but was denied.

She subsequently posted an emotional message on Instagram, accompanying a video interview filmed in May 2024, when she assumed she'd be a lock to compete in Paris. "At the time I had no idea my Olympic spot was in jeopardy," she wrote in the caption. "When I watched it back a few days ago, I realized I saw a girl sitting there feeling like no matter what she did, what she achieved, what she gave back to sport and to the people around her, for some of them, nothing was ever going to be good enough." She continued by listing all her achievements in the sport, and then added, "What defines good enough? I honestly don't even know anymore."

While fans were stunned by the decision, former Hockeyroos Olympian Georgie Parker shared her theory behind Malone's omission from the team. "I'd assume that the explanation from the coaching staff is the fact that she's only scored one goal in her last 15 games," Parker said in an interview with Wide World of Sports. However, Parker also understood why that would be such a tough pill to swallow for an athlete who had expected, "rightly so," to have a spot on the Olympic team.

Soccer player Alex Morgan is a two-time World Cup champion who helped lead Team USA to Olympic gold at the games in 2012 and a bronze in 2020. After a bit of a rough season, however, her name was nowhere to be seen when the 2024 Olympic roster was unveiled. Morgan responded by tweeting a statement. "Today, I'm disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage," she wrote. "This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest."

The team's coach, Emma Hayes, revealed why such a legendary player didn't make the cut, explaining she wanted to give younger, more inexperienced players a shot. "The cap accumulation down our roster is too low. We need to start giving exposure and experiences to players that might have been in and around, might have been on the bench," she said during an interview on "The Women's Game" podcast, admitting that the decision to exclude Morgan was not an easy one. "Of course, it helps when players can be a little more versatile ... but it's not the sole decision and I think when it comes to Alex, first of all, there's no easy way to give someone crap news."

When player Catarina Macario dropped out because of a knee injury, speculation emerged that Morgan could become one of the alternates. She didn't, being snubbed a second time.

A rising star with Real Salt Lake, soccer player Diego Luna was expected to be tapped for the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team — until he wasn't, his name not among the 25 athletes chosen to attend training camp. The decision not to enlist such a dynamic and talented player was met with disbelief. "The U.S. will surely regret this one," noted sportswriter Jacob Schneider for Goal, sharing his surprise at Luna being snubbed. "It's a baffling decision on every possible count, and frankly, disappointing," he added. "Luna being excluded from the Olympic roster is more than a head-scratcher — it feels like a genuine mistake."

According to team coach Marko Mitrovic, Luna's stellar performance with Salt Lake City had not been overlooked, and the athlete had always been under serious consideration. "Diego was part of our process," Mitrovic explained in an interview with American Soccer Now, revealing there were some other talented players who were likewise not chosen for the Olympic team. "But we had to make our decisions and to move forward."

Responding to his snub, Luna took the decision in stride; if he experienced ay disappointment that he wouldn't be competing in Paris, he didn't show it when he was asked about the situation during a press conference. "Decisions are made in soccer with different teams, different coaches. There's nothing you can do about it," he said.

British triathlete Jonny Brownlee competed in the previous three summer Olympic games, winning a bronze medal at the 2012 games in London, a silver at Rio in 2016, and a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo games. Given that track record, it would be a logical assumption that Brownlee would be invited to Paris to continue that winning streak. However, when the athletes were announced for Team Great Britain, Brownlee's moniker was not among them — even though he delayed his retirement to compete in Paris. "We write people off a bit in elite sport when they enter their 30s but I'm 32 and feeling fit and up for the challenge," Brownlee wrote in a 2023 Metro column.

According to Mike Cavendish, British Triathlon's performance director, the decision to omit Brownlee from the team's roster was a tough one to make. "It's one of those things where Jonny has given so much to this sport and he's still an absolutely outstanding athlete. There's no doubt that, had we decided to pick Jonny, he would have still done a brilliant job," Cavendish told the PA news agency (via The Independent).

Brownlee shared his disappointment in an Instagram post. "After 99 world triathlon starts, 52 podiums and three Olympic medals, it's not the fairytale ending that I'd wished for," he wrote. "But Paris was always a bonus, and it can be the unwritten chapter of an incredible book!"