Elizabeth Cambage
Elizabeth Cambage (R) at a game against the Los Angeles Sparks in July.
Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
  • Australian basketballer Elizabeth Cambage was set to compete in her third Olympics, but withdrew on Thursday.
  • The star, who also plays in the WNBA, tweeted she did not feel at her mental and physical peak.
  • Cambage said she has been struggling with mental health, and said the thought the Olympic bubble is "honestly terrifying."
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Just one week before the Tokyo Olympics is set to begin, Australian basketball star Elizabeth Cambage announced she would be pulling out of the Games, citing anxiety and a struggle with mental health.

"Every athlete competing in the Olympic games should be at their mental and physical peak, and at the moment, I'm a long way from where I want and need to be," she wrote in a staetment posted to Twitter on Friday.

"Relying on daily medication to control my anxiety is not the place I want to be right now. Especially walking into competition on the world's biggest sporting stage," she added. "I know myself, and I know I can't be the Liz everyone deserves to see compete for the Opals. Not right now, at least."

Cambage wrote that it was one of her biggest dreams to win an Olympic gold medal with the Australian women's team, nicknamed the Opals, but also shared that she was worried about playing in a "bubble Olympics."

"No family. No friends. No fans. No support system outside of my team. It's honestly terrifying for me," she wrote in her tweet, adding that she would be taking care of herself mentally and physically.

Olympic athletes will have to follow strict social distancing mandates due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will not be playing in front of spectators at this year's Games.

Cambage, who also plays in the WNBA for the Las Vegas Aces, has been an outspoken and, at times, controversial player.

Her withdrawal comes just days after Australian officials announced they would investigate a reported altercation between her and another player during a private scrimmage against the Nigerian basketball team earlier this week.

She also previously threatened to boycott the Olympic Games due to what she said was a lack of racial diversity in the Australian team's photoshoots.

The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed Cambage's departure from the basketball team in a statement seen by Insider.

"Liz has made a great contribution to the Australian Olympic Team over two Olympic Games campaigns. We respect her decision and wish her the best in returning to full health," said Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman in the statement.

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