Ruled out before the start of the Olympics, Australian basketball star Bec Allen will return home to Australia as her teammates get ready to compete in their first match.
Allen, who is currently in Paris, aggravated a hamstring injury in Australia's final practice match before the tournament and was subsequently replaced by Amy Atwell on the Opals Olympic team.
“I have been looking forward to these Games for a long time and am absolutely devastated but I will now focus my energies on recovery and supporting my Opals sisters,” Allen said at the time of being ruled out.
As she returns home to Australia to deal with the hamstring injury, she will also be ruled out for the remainder of the WNBA season with a recovery timeline of at least eight weeks, per News Corp Australia's Matt Logue.
It also continues Allen's unfortunate history with injuries played in Australia's World Cup campaign in 2022 with a partially collapsed lung and two broken ribs.
One of Australia's best shooters, it is a significant loss to the Opals but also the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA competition.
The Mercury currently sit in fourth place in the Western Conference behind the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces with 13 wins and 12 losses.