Alex Morgan is not heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
On June 26, it was announced that the 34-year-old soccer star, who has played for the US Women’s National Team at every Summer Olympic Games since 2012, had not made the 18-player roster despite earning three Olympic medals, winning two World Cup Championships, and serving as co-captain of the USNWT from 2018-2020.
“Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage. This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest,” Morgan wrote of the decision on X.com. “In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country. LFG.”
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According to ESPN, the final decision was made by the new Olympic team head coach Emma Hayes. “Making an Olympic roster is a huge privilege and an honor, and there is no denying that it was an extremely competitive process among the players and that there were difficult choices, especially considering how hard everyone has worked over the past 10 months,” Hayes told reporters. It’s also worth noting that Morgan is recovering from an ankle injury, which caused her to miss a month of the regular NWSL season, per USA Today.
Hayes continued, “Choosing an 18-player roster plus alternates involved many considerations, but I am excited for the group we have selected, and I’m looking forward to building on the work from last camp as we head into the send-off matches and then onto France. These are great opportunities for us to continue to show the progress we are making.”
Whether or not her omission was the best choice for the team, many fans praised Morgan’s “classy” response and expressed their own disappointment about the decision. “Just a reminder. We are at the Olympics because of Alex Morgan,” one fan wrote on X.com, while another wrote, “I don’t disagree with the decision of leaving Alex Morgan off of the roster. But damn it hurts my heart a bit. What a player, what a legacy.”
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Clearly, Alex Morgan will be missed in Paris.
Read moreAlex Morgan Finds the Silver Lining
The World Cup champion had it all planned out: train full-throttle to be ready for the Tokyo Olympics less than three months after she gives birth this spring. She didn’t plan for an Olympic postponement, or the reality of giving birth in the midst of a pandemic. But she’s already looking to the next goal.
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