Australian football star Sam Kerr has been officially ruled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
The striker was injured during a Chelsea training camp in January.
When announcing the squad for Australia’s final pre-Olympic friendlies, the Matildas coach said Kerr would not return in time for the Games in July.
Kerr – arguably Australia’s greatest sporting idol – is the country’s all-time leading goalscorer.
She is the latest in a long list of high-profile female footballers – including England captain Leah Williamson and Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema – to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament injury. It generally takes at least nine months for professional athletes to return to physical shape after surgery.
The Matildas have had a horrible preparation for the Olympics, with several key members of the team sidelined with injuries.
Key midfielder Katrina Gorry is absent after ankle surgery, defender Clare Hunt has battled a broken foot and the stalwart Aivi Luik has suffered a hamstring injury. Young midfielder Amy Sayer tore her anterior cruciate ligament last month and has also been ruled out of the Olympics.
Ahead of the farewell matches against China, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said selection for the 18-man Olympic squad had become a complicated equation – with some hopefuls racing against time to return to the field.
“This window will be difficult for me and my team in terms of evaluating the players, where they are and then the final selection process for Paris,” he said.
Kerr was expected to be an integral part of the Matildas medal campaign in Paris after the team missed out on the podium at the previous Olympics in Tokyo and the World Cup in Australia last year.
During her time at Chelsea, Kerr won four Women’s Super League titles, three FA Cups, two Women’s League Cups and the Women’s Community Shield.
She has scored 99 goals for Chelsea and 64 goals for Australia, and has also been nominated for the Ballon d’Or Féminin – women’s football’s top award – every year since its inception in 2018.
But it has been a difficult 12 months for Kerr. She spent much of the home World Cup on the bench with a calf strain and – shortly after her anterior cruciate ligament injury – was in January accused of racially aggravated harassment of a London police officerto which she pleaded not guilty.
