Bridget Carlton is playing in her second Olympic games and in her sixth season as a pro that has always been her dream and her hard work perseverance and desire to represent her country turned that dream into a reality six years into her W NBA career. Bridget Carlton is having her best season yet. She's worked her way into the Minnesota link starting lineup and is averaging a career high nine points per game and shooting 43% from three. The W NBA season is on hold for the Olympics. Carlton is competing for her home country of Canada for the second time. I think it was my motivation. How good I wanted to be. I wanted to be at the Olympics playing for team Canada. I want to be the best I can for my national team and day by day being the best when Carlton entered her freshman year at Iowa State, she didn't believe becoming a pro or an Olympian was even possible. But Cyclone head coach, Bill Finley and his staff recognized her potential and eventually she recognized it too. You know, my first year I was, I was a much different player. Four years later, a much different person I grew into who I was, they pushed me to become the best player I could, I was put in a lot of tough situations on the court and had to lead my team. I was in a position where I was allowed to make mistakes. I played a lot of minutes as a freshman and throughout my whole four years, so they believed in me, they trusted me and they saw a future in me and I knew that my big goals I had and they were fully supportive of that. So I'm really thankful for them in that journey and I wouldn't be here without them despite ending her college career as one of the best players in program history with several awards and honors on her resume. Finding her way in the league took some time after a brief stint with Connecticut in the beginning of her career, Carlton was picked up by Minnesota and just like in college, she had to grow into the players. She knew she could be three or four in the league was the first time I really like, solidified my spot, confident in my role and who I was as a professional. I think you really have to hang your hat on some things when you get to this level. And I was able to find that as a third year in the league. And it's been helpful being in the same franchise for so long a team that believes in me, coaches that believe in me, it's extremely difficult to make a W NBA roster and maintain a spot on it. But Carlton has been able to do that while becoming a key contributor for her team. And that's what she's most proud of. I think, you know, my longevity so far in the league has been really, I've been really proud of that. Um And, you know, being a two time Olympian is, is pretty cool. Um Again, being on team Canada is always my number one priority in representing my country the best I can. And so being able to go to the Olympics for a second time this summer is really um exciting. The Canadian women's national team has never reached the podium at the Olympics, but Carlton is hoping they'll come home with some hardware this time around.