KARIYA CITY, JAPAN - Having been Canada's Senior Women's National Team assistant coach since October 2017, Rams women's basketball head coach Carly Clarke will be heading to her first Olympic Games in Tokyo this month.
"The excitement is starting to rise," says Clarke, who is currently in Mississauga's sister city of Kariya City, Japan for training camp before heading to Tokyo. "After lots of uncertainty about whether these Olympics would happen due to the pandemic, the excitement is definitely starting to rise as we are now actually here!"
Clarke and the team are a few weeks removed from the 2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup, where despite a top four finish and qualifying for a 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup qualification tournament, the group look to improve and perform at a higher level at Tokyo 2020.
"We were disappointed with our team result at AmeriCup, as we had high expectations for our team at that event," shares Clarke. "Despite that, it was great to have meaningful competition prior to the Olympics, and to provide some younger athletes with some valuable experience in advance of having our full Olympic roster together here in Japan."
When asked about what she is most looking forward to ahead of her first Olympic Games, it was clear Clarke had her eyes on the prize, saying, "This will be my first Olympics so I am really looking forward to enjoying the experience, but, our team also has high hopes for what we can be capable of, so what I am really hoping we take away from the experience is a spot on the Olympic podium."
After the Senior Men's National Team failed to qualify for Tokyo, Canada Basketball's Olympic success lies in the hands of these talented, experienced, and high achieving women in the red and white who enter the competition ranked No. 4 in the world.
Clarke is not the only Olympian with ties to the Rams, as former men's basketball coach Roy Rana will be in Tokyo as an assistant coach with the German men's basketball team.
Tokyo 2020 begins Friday, July 23rd, while Canada's first basketball game tips off against Serbia on Monday, July 26th at 1:20 p.m. ET.
