Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has three Team USA gold medals under her belt. However, when she takes the court on Friday against China, it will be the 24-year-old’s senior debut at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
In a recent interview with FIBA, Clark reflected on her history with the national team. She expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to represent her country at the highest level. At the same time, the Fever guard admitted that one of the best parts of her journey is her teammates.
“I played on three junior national teams and honestly, I think one of the coolest parts is a lot of the people that I get to play with now on the national team were on some of those teams — some of my first teams when I was 16 years old,” Clark said.
“So it’s kinda fun that we get to live our, our dream together now here [in Berlin].”
Clark’s first gold medal was with the Under-16 national team in the FIBA Women’s Americas Championship. She was teammates with Paige Bueckers and Fever star Aliyah Boston, both of whom are on Team USA’s 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup roster.
The trio reunited in 2019 for the Under-19 Women’s World Cup, winning another gold medal. Clark’s third gold medal came two years later in the 2021 U19 Women’s World Cup.
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“I think one thing about USA Basketball that they do such a great job of is, you know, instilling their standards from a very young age,” said the three-time WNBA All-Star. “Our goal was always to win gold and, you know, we wanna do that at the highest level and do it consistently, and that’s what they’ve done at every single level.
“I grew up watching the national team, whether that was the World Cup or the Olympics. And now getting to be here at the World Cup and making my debut is pretty cool.”
Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to win it all in Berlin, which would potentially be Clark’s first gold medal at the senior level.
Their quest for glory starts on Friday against China. They will then face the two other nations in Group D, Italy and the Czech Republic, on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
Should Clark and Co. win their group, they will automatically proceed to the quarterfinals of the knockout stage.
