Australian basketball player Liz Cambage has confirmed she will compete at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

Australian basketball player Liz Cambage has confirmed she will compete at Tokyo 2020 after threatening to boycott the women's national team in protest of a lack of racial diversity in a recent photoshoot of the Olympic team.

Cambage had criticised the photoshoot, which she claimed was "whitewashed" due to a lack of diversity.

The two-time Olympian posted the Jockey Australia photoshoot with Olympic and Paralympic athletes on Instagram earlier this month.

Jockey is an official supplier of the Australian Olympic team for Tokyo 2020.

"How am I meant to represent a country that doesn't even represent me," Cambage wrote, before adding the hashtag #whitewashedaustralia.

"You all really do anything to remove POCs (people of colour) from the forefront when it's black athletes leading the pack until I see you doing more @ausolympicteam imma sit this one out."

Cambage had also shared a photo from the Australian Olympic team during its uniform release on March 30, writing "also fake tan doesn't equal diversity".

Indigenous rugby player Maurice Longbottom, who was in the uniform release, was later apologised to by Cambage.

Cambage has now backed down on her threat to boycott the team, with the basketball star confirming that she will compete at a third Olympics.

"For everyone so desperately wondering what my decision is for the Opals, I’m in baby," Cambage said in an Instagram story.

"How can I sit out when we have the bodysuits back?

"I’m going to look so good in it.

"I’m going to play with my sisters that I’ve been playing with since I was a wee little thing and I’m going to ball out for all those young brown kids back in Australia watching me, baby.

"I’m going to do it for you!"


The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) had earlier acknowledged the athletes chosen for the Jockey shoot "could and should have better reflected the rich diversity of athletes who represent Australia at the Olympic Games".

The organisation added that it was proud of its record in promoting diversity from "indigenous reconciliation, people of colour, gender equality and all forms of diversity".

The AOC last week announced at least one Aboriginal and one Torres Strait Island representative would serve on the organisation’s Athletes' Commission following a motion passed at its Annual General Meeting.

Cambage was born in London to an Australian mother and Nigerian father, but was raised in Australia since she was an infant.

She is an Olympic bronze medallist in women's basketball from the London 2012 Games and claimed Commonwealth Games gold at Gold Coast 2018.

Cambage has faced some criticism for her comments and boycott threat.

Former National Basketball Association star Andrew Bogut, speaking on his podcast Rogue Bogues, warned against counting diversity in photos.

"What frustrates me with this is counting the amount of different skin colours in a photo is just poor form,” Bogut said, according to news.com.au.

"It’s a pretty slippery slope once you start counting.

"Some of our most prominent people of colour that play for Australia, Patty Mills and Ben Simmons, they’re playing in the best league in the world right now, they can’t even come to that photo shoot.

"I don’t think Cambage can, she’s probably overseas.

"There’s a lot of different factors that go into it, this is made out like it was a blatant effort to whitewash the photo, to make Australia look white.

"C’mon. 

"Not in today’s day and age, you’d be an idiot if you’re running the AOC to do that, because you’re going to get blow ups.

"I can separate off-court with the on-court, but I just don’t think this helps any situation going into an Olympics."