4-time Olympian Natalie Achonwa leads Canadian women's basketball team headed to Paris

The excitement and readiness was evident as Kayla Alexander looked ahead to the Paris Olympics.

Alexander, Natalie Achonwa and Kia Nurse headline the Canadian women's basketball team announced Tuesday morning. It will be Alexander's second Olympics but first time with spectators as the Tokyo Games took place in 2021 during the pandemic.

"Same level of excitement, for sure," a beaming Alexander said at the Canadian Olympic Committee offices. "Feels different because the last one was COVID so didn't have the full experience, I'm looking forward to having that this time around.

"But the joy and excitement and just the privilege of being able to represent your country, that never changes. That's still something that I'm just overflowing with right now."

The fifth-ranked Canadians qualified for the Games back in February at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Hungary. Canada went 1-2 but was helped out by fourth-ranked Spain defeating host Hungary 73-72 in the final game of the tournament.

It will be the fourth straight Games the women have qualified for. Canada is in Group B alongside third-ranked Australia, host and seventh-ranked France and 12th-ranked Nigeria.

The tournament is scheduled to run from July 28 to Aug. 11, with the group phase to be played in Lille, France. The top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams qualify for the final phase, which will be held in Paris.

Canada, which opens the tournament July 29 against France, is looking to redeem itself after a disappointing ninth-place finish in Tokyo.

WATCH | Achonwa talks Paris Olympics, motherhood with Ariel Helwani:

Since then, Canada placed fourth at the World Cup in 2022 and took bronze at the AmeriCup in 2023. The fourth-place result at