Lauren Jackson in Opals Olympic squad, Matisse Thybulle and Chris Goulding among shocking omissions for baby boomers ahead of Paris Games

The Australian Basketball Federation is grappling with the timing after 43-year-old Opals star Lauren Jackson and experienced Boomers guard Matthew Dellavedova were confirmed to play in France.

The pair were confirmed for this month’s Olympics on Sunday, with four-time medallist Jackson’s return coming after she withdrew from participation before the 2016 Games due to debilitating knee pain.

In 2022, she gave preliminary successes on her return and announced her retirement from the national team after winning the World Championship bronze medal.

A partial Achilles tendon tear last year was certainly the final nail in the coffin for the Hall of Fame member and three-time WNBA MVP.

But the 2012 Australian national player of the year will add another chapter to his incredible career: Jackson is now fully fit and once again a key figure in the world number three’s attack on the four-time Olympic champion USA.

This is the fourth longest gap between appearances in Australian Olympic history, making Jackson the only Australian basketball representative to compete in a fifth Olympic Games, alongside Andrew Gaze and current Boomers Patty Mills and Joe Ingles.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian also relied on experience in nominating this pair as well as three-time Olympian Dellavedova, even though he had left him out of the team at the last World Championships.

Dellavedova was used sparingly as Australia defeated Slovenia for bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Instead, NBA elite defender Matisse Thybulle helped keep star player Luka Doncic at bay and win a historic medal.

Goorjian told AAP in March that “Father Time is coming and there will be a fight there” when he did not guarantee any player a seat on the plane.

But the mentor will take the 33-year-old Dellavedova and not Thybulle (27) with him, because group matches against a strong Canada and possibly Spain as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece await in Lille.

Two-time Olympian Chris Goulding was also dropped despite strong form in recent test matches, as was Xavier Cooks, despite being one of the best of the baby boomers at the World Championships.

Jack McVeigh, Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey and Will Magnay will all make their debut at the Games.

“Being part of the baby boomer legacy means everything,” said Giddey, 21.

“We have a really great group, we know what we have to do and we are ready to go.”