Steve Smith accuses Australian selectors of killing his LA28 Olympics dream
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Talismanic Aussie batter Steve Smith has made an honest revelation that it won't be an easy job for him to be back in Australia's squad for the LA 2028 Olympics, but still, he wishes to stay and put up a fight, as the seasoned star has expressed his desire to play the multi-team event for Australia.
The Los Angeles Olympic Games will witness the return of the game of cricket to the multi-nation, multi-sport event after a long gap of 128 years. It was last played back in 1900, when Great Britain was the gold medal winner.
Ever since the announcement of the return of the game of cricket to the Olympics, one player who has kept his constant focus on the event has been Steve Smith.
Steve Smith admits he would fight for his spot in the LA 2028 Olympics
Back in February, after Australia's exit from the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final, Steve Smith announced his retirement from ODIs but expressed his desire to continue in the shortest format with hopes of playing in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Recently, the batter has agreed that breaking into the T20I squad for the LA 2028 Olympics would not be an easy affair but would rather be very 'tricky.' However, despite all odds, Smith seems focused on not going down without putting up a fight to seal a spot.
Smith, who would be 39 years old at the time of the Olympics, yearns for an opportunity to compete for one of the three spots at the podium. Though he last played a T20I match for Australia back in February 2024 against New Zealand.
"I mean, it is a goal of mine to try and make that Olympic team in 28. I think, you know, the team's doing pretty well at the moment, the Australian T20 team. So it's going to be tricky to get in there, but you know, just got to keep putting my best foot forward, and we'll never know," Smith told Sky Sports.
Smith reveals his ambition to feature in the Olympics
"Yeah, I mean, I've watched a lot of Olympics since I was a young kid and really enjoyed watching the Australian athletes go about it. So, you know, when I heard that cricket was going to be a part of it, I was like, that would be really cool to be involved," Smith added while revealing the reason behind his excitement about Olympic participation.
During his illustrious international career, Steve Smith has been a part of ICC World Cups, ICC T20 World Cups, the Champions Trophy, World Test Championship finals, and the biggest cricketing rivalries like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the Ashes. However, the idea of being a part of something known on the world stage excites him.
"So, you know, I've obviously played in, you know, lots of World Cups and Ashes and uh Border Gavaskar Trophy and things like that, but um yeah, when this popped up, it was something new and another opportunity to, you know, represent your country on a world stage. So, yeah, it was like I'd love to be involved in that, but it's still a fair way away. So, we'll see," he said.
Steve Smith announced his retirement from ODIs
After Australia's exit from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy with a loss against India in the semi-finals, Steve Smith, who was assigned the captaincy in the competition, announced his retirement from the 50-over format.
The legendary Australian cricketer has played 170 ODI matches for the Aussies since his debut back in 2010, as the veteran goes down with 5800 runs in international cricket and 12 hundreds in the format. He was part of Australia's 2 World Cup-winning teams in 2015 and 2023.
He has also scored 1094 T20I runs in 67 matches and has won the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup and ICC World Test Championship with the Australian side in 2023.
