Australian basketball star Liz Cambage has backtracked on threats to boycott the Olympics to confirm she will compete in Tokyo, despite blasting officials about the lack of racial diversity.
There were grave fears the outspoken athlete, 29, would miss the Games after she slammed the lack of racial diversity in Australia's 'whitewashed' Olympics promotional photos and threatened to sit out the competition unless the issue of inclusion was addressed.
Currently based in the US, Cambage set the record straight when she confirmed she will compete at her third Olympics, which starts July 23.
'For everyone wondering so desperately what my decision is for the Opals, I'm in baby...I'm in,' an excited Cambage told fans in an Instagram video.
'I'm going to play with my sisters that I've been playing with since I was a wee little thing and I'm going to ball out for all those young brown kids back in Australia watching me, baby. I'm going to do it for you.'
The 2012 bronze medallist also vowed to continue speaking out about the lack of racial diversity.
'There are two people in this world there are the people who have the balls to stand up and say something and make change; that's me. I was born for this,' Cambage continued.
'The second type of people in this world. that's the people that are intimated and scared and insecure and hide behind fake profiles and talk s**t because you are too scared to do anything.
'I'm not going to stop for no one or nothing. Have a great day.'
Cambage's backflip come hours after Opals legend Lauren Jackson said she was confident the star would compete in Tokyo.
When asked on Monday night by reporters if she hoped the issue would be sorted in time for the games, Jackson responded: 'Hope? I know it will.'
'High-performance has been in touch with all the athletes. Everything sorts itself out, I really believe that everything will work out. We've just got to let this play out,' she said.
'Liz is one of the finest players that we've ever had representing us. She has been a core part of the Opals for the past decade, and it would be fitting to see her on the dais in Tokyo.
'I really hope that she is a part of that group – she is very important to the team.'
Jackson said the Australian Olympic Committee are looking at 'constitutional change' and said she supports the right of any person to express their opinions in a respectful manner.
'Liz has got a platform and it is a very important issue, and I support her fighting to racial inequality,' she said.
Current Opal Lauren Nicholson added: 'Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We are an inclusive sport.
'She obviously adds a lot to the Opals we are just focusing on the Olympics and what we can do to win.'
It's not the first time Cambage has threatened to boycott over racial issues.
Last year she called for the Aboriginal flag to be included on team uniforms, and for Basketball Australia to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
When she told teammates she wasn't felling supported, they organised a boycott of team training to support her.
Australian tennis great Todd Woodbridge slammed Cambage over her threat to sit out the Olympics.
Woodbridge, who won 16 grand slam doubles titles and Olympic gold, said Cambage's comments showed 'disrespect' towards the athletes who were pictured and added he believed she had gone about her public protest in the wrong way.
'My initial thought was, don't do it that way,' Woodbridge said on Channel 9's Sports Sunday program.
'Why do it that way? Why do it with the anger and the threats? You cannot threaten to pull out of representing your country, you've got the privilege to be there and to do something special.
'If you want to do something like that, why don't you do it the way Naomi Osaka did it? I mean, she changed the world. She didn't have to get out there and use language and threaten us all that we've done the wrong thing.
'I'd say, good on you for standing up for it but there are ways. We've got another great ambassador here in Australia we just spoke about, Ash Barty; she does it the right way. That's not her style.'
'I just believe there was a bit of disrespect for the athletes in the photo, who rightfully deserved to be in that photo,' Woodbridge said on Sunday when responding to Cambage's comments.
Cambage’s former WNBL coach Tom Maher also spoke out against her, claiming it was inappropriate for her to “make such a big deal out of pretty much nothing”.
The 29-year-old, who plays for US team Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA, shared two of the images of athletes approved by the Australian Olympic Committee, alongside critical comments blasting them for a lack of diversity.
One of the images shared by Cambage was an ad from Olympic partner and underwear supplier Jockey, which featured white athletes.
The other was an Australian uniform reveal featuring Indigenous Rugby Sevens player Maurice Longbottom which she captioned: 'fake tan doesn't equal diversity.'
Following backlash, Cambage said on Friday evening she was clearly not talking about the rugby star.
'I know who Maurice Longbottom is. I wasn't saying he had fake tan on - I'm talking about the rest of the photo. One token person of colour in a photo is not good enough AOC,' she said.
'The whitewashing is sad. Your black and Indigenous athletes lead [your sporting achievements] and you don't use them at all.
'And Jockey Australia you knew exactly what you were doing. You need me to send you a list of all the POC athletes that are trying to make it to the Olympics. That you could use? I could do it and I'm not even in the country.'
A few hours later, Cambage was back on Instagram hitting out at Olympic officials.
'If I've said it once I've said it a million times. How am I meant to represent a country that doesn't even represent me?' she wrote.
The comments stirred up a storm of media coverage and comments online, sparking another fiery response from Cambage.
'Australia wake the f**k up. I'm not playing these games anymore,' Cambage said on her Instagram story hours later on Friday evening.
She continued her tirade on Saturday morning with another series of Instagram stories after her comments from the previous day stirred up a storm of media coverage and online debate.
The AOC said in their apology statement they 'acknowledged' the point made by the Cambage.
'The athletes made available to Jockey could and should have better reflected the rich diversity of athletes who represent Australia at the Olympic Games,' the statement read.
'The AOC does however have a very proud history of celebrating and promoting diversity in all its forms. From Indigenous reconciliation, people of colour, gender equality and all forms of diversity, the AOC is rightly proud of its record.'
The committee said there would be further photo shoots to reflect a broader diversity of athletes.
The AOC acknowledges Liz Cambage's point with regard to this particular photo shoot.
The athletes made available to Jockey could and should have better reflected the rich diversity of athletes who represent Australia at the Olympic Games.
The AOC does however have a very proud history of celebrating and promoting diversity in all its forms. From Indigenous reconciliation, people of colour, gender equality and all forms of diversity, the AOC is rightly proud of its record.
Tomorrow the Annual General Meeting will consider a change to the AOC Constitution which will ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island representation on our Athletes' Commission. Next month we will launch our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan following lengthy consultation with our Indigenous Advisory Committee.
Our Olympic Team for Tokyo, as it did in Rio, will consist of more women than men.
We proudly defend our track record on diversity and there will be further photo shoots that reflect our broad diversity of athletes.
With regard to this photo shoot however, we acknowledge while proud of the athletes involved and proud of our association with Jockey, it should have better reflected the diversity of our Team.
The Olympic Charter commits us all to oppose any form of discrimination.
