[ad_1]
Another Olympic gold medal hopeful will not compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
Katie Lou Samuelson, a key member of Team USA’s first-ever 3×3 women’s basketball team, was placed in COVID-19 health and safety protocols on Saturday and will not be participating in the tournament, USA Basketball announced on Monday. .
“Our hearts are broken for Lou,” USA Basketball 3×3 said in a statement on Twitter. “We thank her for her endless commitment to building USA Basketball 3×3 and she will be sadly missed in Tokyo.”
Seattle Storm member Samuelson will be replaced by Las Vegas Aces goalie Jackie Young. She joins Kelsey Plum (Aces), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings) and Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky) for the United States
Samuelson to miss 3×3 debut
Samuelson, 24, won 3×3 gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and the 2013 FIBA U18 World Cup. She was said to have been the first American basketball player to compete in the Youth Olympic Games. and the Olympics.
She said on Instagram that she had fallen ill with COVID and was devastated to miss the Olympics. She said she was among the 99% of WNBA players who are fully vaccinated.
“I am devastated to share that after getting sick with COVID-19, I will not be able to compete in Tokyo. Competing in the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was little and I hope that one day soon, I can come back to make this dream come true I am particularly sorry because I am fully vaccinated and I have taken all the precautions, but I know that everything will turn out as it should.
“I wish my USAB teammates the best as they go out there and crush it. I will cheer you on every step of the way.”
The former UConn Huskies star has seen a series of rough breaks in his young career. She broke her foot in the freshman in the 2016 national semifinals and was unable to make the final won by UConn. She had to have ankle surgery after her first year. In 2019, her rookie year with the Chicago Sky, she missed time with a hand injury.
Samuelson has just completed an exceptional season in Europe which ended with a Spanish league title while playing for Perfumerías Avenida. She was named to the All-EuroLeague first team and is one of the Storm’s main contributors behind Olympians Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird.
Young joins 3×3 for Olympic debut
Samuelson, Plum, Gray and Dolson clinched the United States’ place in the tournament in May during the Olympic qualifying tournament. They were chosen by USA Basketball to continue to represent the nation on the Olympic stage.
The 3×3 competition is part of the Olympic Games for the first time this year. This is a half court match that lasts a maximum of 10 minutes with a 12 second stopwatch. Baskets inside the arch are worth one point and outside the arch are worth two. Free throws are also one each. The first team to 21 wins, or the team that leads after 10 minutes.
Young, a third-year player who made the draft as a junior from Notre Dame, played on the U.S. 3×3 basketball team at the 2019 World Beach Games. The team went 3-1, losing in the quarter-finals against Brazil. She was also part of the team’s training camp in February 2020.
The United States will face France, followed by Mongolia to open the tournament on Saturday. There are eight teams in total competing.
Positive tests accumulate before the Olympics
Positive tests are starting to pile up in Japan where athletes and members of the media are still arriving and training for the Games which officially begin on Friday at the opening ceremony. Other competitions start earlier in the week.
Tennis star Coco Gauff had to withdraw from the Olympics on Sunday with a positive COVID-19 test. A replacement for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team has also tested positive in recent days, the organization said on Monday. And Bradley Beal was left out of the men’s basketball team for the same reason.
Positive tests have also impacted other countries as they descend on Japan, a country that is largely unvaccinated and has seen the number of cases rise in recent weeks.
More Olympics coverage from Yahoo Sports:
[ad_2]
Source link