Australia loses Bec Allen for Paris Olympics with hamstring injury in final warmup game

FILE - New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello watches during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Indiana Fever, Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Indianapolis. Brondello said Thursday, July 25, 2024 it will be hard to replace forward Bec Allen, who also plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury. The Opals announced that Allen will miss what would have been her second Olympics after tests revealed a high grade hamstring injury suffered in the Opals’ final warm-up for the Paris Games. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

By TERESA M. WALKER

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Australia will play the 2024 Olympics without forward Bec Allen after tests revealed a high-grade hamstring injury suffered in the Opals’ final warmup for the Paris Games.

The Opals announced the injury Thursday after their practice at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium. The Phoenix Mercury player had been set to play in her second Olympics. She has been replaced by Amy Atwell, who will be making her Olympic debut.

Coach Sandy Brondello, who coaches the WNBA’s New York Liberty, called Allen a hard player to replace and wished the 6-foot-2 forward from Melbourne, Australia, a speedy recovery.

“We are absolutely devastated for Bec being ruled out today on the eve of the Games,” Brondello told The Associated Press via text. “She is such an important player for us and will be sorely missed. Injuries are a part of the game unfortunately, so all players will need to do a little bit more to cover for her absence.”

Allen, 31, hurt the hamstring Tuesday in the Opals’ game against Canada in Spain. That was their final warmup before Australia begins group play Monday against Nigeria. Tests in Paris on Wednesday showed the injury was severe enough to keep her off the court.

Bridget Carleton played in that game for Canada and didn’t know how Allen went down in that game. Carlton, who plays against Allen in the WNBA as a member of the Minnesota Lynx, was upset to learn the severity of the injury and called it heartbreaking.

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“You never know how bad it is in the moment,” Carlton said. “It sucks though because I mean this thing, this comes every four years. I know how much representing my country means to me, and I know she feels the same way about representing Australia.”

Allen had played 18 of the Mercury’s 25 games before the Olympic break. But she was sidelined in the 2022 World Cup in Sydney after taking a knee to the midsection diving for a loose ball. That left her with a partially collapsed lung and broken ribs.

The Opals currently rank third in the world and top Group B with Canada, France and Nigeria. They are looking for their first medal since taking bronze in 2012 at the London Games.

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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report. ___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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