Soccer star Alex Morgan won’t be representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage,” Morgan, 34, shared via X on Wednesday, June 26. “This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest.”
She continued: “In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country. LFG.”
The official Olympics roster for the women’s national team was announced by head coach Emma Hayes on Wednesday, and fans quickly noticed that Morgan’s name was missing from the list. The roster does, however, include goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, forward Sophia Smith, midfielder Lindsey Horan and more fan favorites.
“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, 47, shared in a statement. “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.”
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.
In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team… pic.twitter.com/NAXmQnNN8B
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) June 26, 2024
Morgan competed at the 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a member of the USWNT. She famously scored the game-winning goal in 2012, which gave the U.S. a lead over Canada and sent them to the finals. That same year, the U.S. team defeated Japan 2-1 to take home the gold.
She was the co-captain of USWNT alongside Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020. Currently, she plays as a striker for the San Diego Wave FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Nearly one year before her Olympics snub, Morgan spoke with People about how becoming a mother has helped her soccer skills. (Morgan and husband Servando Carrasco welcomed their daughter, Charlie, in 2020.)
“[Parenthood] just makes me feel more balanced all around,” she said in July 2023. “I’m able to give everything to the sport and my teams, but when I go home, I’m not dwelling on whether I had a bad training or bad game. I just have to be a mom and tend to my child’s needs instead of overanalyzing things.”
Morgan admitted at the time that “coming back” to the field after giving birth was a “really hard” experience.
“I didn’t feel super quick or super fast right away. I had already adapted my game to kind of finding the ball, and finding spaces in different ways without having to use my speed,” she said. “So by the time my speed did come back from pregnancy, I was able to mesh the two together a little bit more. I feel like I’m finding myself in good goal-scoring positions more frequently than I ever have before.”
