Before the Olympics even begin, there is always heartbreak. And June may be the hardest month of all.
Caitlin Clark, the ascendant star of women’s basketball, just found out that she won’t be going to Paris. So did Bill May, whose hopes of becoming the first man to compete at the Olympics in the sport of artistic swimming were dashed by the U.S. selection committee.
Over the next few weeks, hundreds more athletes — swimmers and sprinters, divers and tumblers, many of whom have spent years training with the singular goal of representing Team U.