Baseless claim Caitlin Clark playing for Canada in 2024 Olympics | Fact check

The claim: Caitlin Clark joined the Canadian Olympic team

A June 18 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes an image purporting to show Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark in a Canadian national team basketball jersey.

“BREAKING: After a series of controversies and criticisms from experts accusing her of being unpatriotic, Caitlin Clark still stubbornly agreed to join the Canadian team at the 2024 Olympics with jersey number 6, disappointing many fans,” reads the post's caption.

Other versions of the claim spread on Facebook and Threads.

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Our rating: False

Neither Clark nor Canada Basketball has announced such a decision, and a spokesperson for the team said the claim is false. Olympians can only represent countries of which they are nationals, and there is no evidence Clark has citizenship in Canada. The image in the post is an altered version of a Canadian player’s headshot.

Clark says Olympics is a 'dream'

There are no Canada Basketball news releases announcing Clark’s addition to the team, nor has she announced a decision to join the team on her social mediaaccounts or website. Clark also doesn’t appear on the roster for the Canadian women's basketball team.

Canada Basketball spokesperson Matthew Walker told USA TODAY the claim is false.

The Olympics Committee requires competitors to be a national of the country they’re representing in the games, according to its website. Clark was born in Iowa, and there is no evidence she has dual citizenship in Canada.

The image in the Facebook post appears to be an edited image of Canadian player Bridget Carleton’s headshot for the national team in which Clark's face is superimposed over Carleton's. Carleton's headshot includes the same jersey and hairstyle shown in the altered image.

The Canadian women’s national basketball team qualified for the Olympics in February.

USA Basketball notified Clark that she wasn’t selected for the 2024 Olympic team in early June, the Indianapolis Star reported. Though the decision was controversial among some basketball fans, Clark said she would be cheering on the team and that it would be a “dream” to be on the Olympic roster in the future. 

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USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims surrounding the Olympics, including false assertions that Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner was kicked off Team USA, that the CIA warned Americans to avoid the Paris Metro during the Olympics in June 2024 and that the International Olympic Committee banned soccer player Megan Rapinoe for life. 

USA TODAY reached out to Clark's team and users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

UPDATE: This story has been updated with the comment Matthew Walker provided to USA TODAY.

Our fact-check sources:

• Matthew Walker, June 25, Email exchange with USA TODAY 
• Caitlin Clark, accessed June 25, Instagram account 
• Caitlin Clark, accessed June 25, X account 
• Caitlin Clark, accessed June 25, Website search
• Canada Basketball, accessed June 25, Bridget Carleton 
• Canada Basketball, accessed June 25, News
• Canada Basketball, accessed June 25, Team Canada Senior Women’s National Team 
• International Olympic Committee, accessed June 25, Can I compete for another team than my nationality?

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