Canada's women's basketball team takes first step toward 2028 Olympics at FIBA AmeriCup

As Delaney Gibb watched the Paris Olympics from her dorm room in Utah, she couldn't help but feel motivated.

The Raymond, Alta., native cheered from afar as friend, peer and fellow teenager Syla Swords competed for Canada's basketball team.

While Swords and her squad in Paris left winless and disappointed, Gibb's eyes were opened.

"It got me excited and ready for the future, just to try and continue getting better for maybe one day being an Olympic athlete. …  It's fun to be able to watch those games when you have relationships and connections with the girls," Gibb said.

Less than one year later, the 19-year-old Gibb has authored a freshman-of-the-year season at BYU and now could be set for her first game action with Canada's senior women's team at the FIBA AmeriCup.

Action begins Saturday and runs through medal games July 6 in Santiago, Chile. The winner earns a berth to the 2026 World Cup, while others will be relegated to qualifying tournaments. The World Cup, set to take place in Germany, serves as an Olympic qualifier.

And so the journey to Los Angeles 2028 has already begun.

"I really want to have a successful career and being an Olympic athlete is the No. 1 [goal]," Gibb said.

Gibb was one of a few newcomers to the team at training camp, which will also play its first games under head coach Nell Fortner, hired in May, and general manager Steve Baur.

Fortner, 66, is the winningest women's coach in the history of USA Basketball, having led the Americans to gold at the 2000 Olympics.

Now with Canada after stops in the NCAA and WNBA, her long-term goal is to return to the top of the podium.

At the AmeriCup, the aim is to establish a winning foundation.

"You help them see what that process is every day in practice,