Caitlin Clark was infamously left off the last U.S.Olympic women's basketball team in Paris in 2024.Two years later, the controversy surrounding the WNBA's handling of Clark has reached many corners of the sports world, and caught the attention of Olympians from multiple countries.After weeks of controversy, ignited by a punch to Clark's throat by another player and has since featured Clark screaming in the face of referees on Wednesday night, eight Olympians across three countries have come forward to Fox News Digital to speak out against the WNBA in defense of Clark.Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead Makar is photographed in Jacksonville, Fla., on Aug.
28, 2022.(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)"The WNBA needs the courage to act decisively for athlete safety.
Caitlin Clark is a generational superstar, but she deserves the same protection as every player," Hogshead told Fox News Digital."The WNBA cannot continue to allow any dangerous conduct to go unchecked.A fist pressed against a player's throat is never 'just part of the game.' It's wildly unacceptable.
WNBA: Enforce your rules, hold offenders accountable, and put athlete safety first."Jamaica's Anthony Watson looks on after finishing the men's skeleton heat 3 run during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Olympic Sliding Centre on Feb.16, 2018, in Pyeongchang.
(Mohd Rasfan/AFP)"As an Olympian, I’ve always believed sports has never been about what you look like or where you come from.It’s always been finding the answer to the one pressing question: can the champion stay on top, or can the next contender rise up and take their place? The athletes who prepare the hardest, perform when the pressure is the hardest, and deliver in the biggest moments are the ones who earn respect.
Caitlin Clark has done exactly that.Yet instead of celebrating her elite competition, too much of the conversation has shifted to who she is rather than what she’s accomplished," Watson told Fox News Digital."She has ...