Three years have passed between the Gold in Tokyo and her (new) first time with Team USA at the Olympics, even though it feels like much longer. 22 months ago, the number #15 of the Team USA Women was frozen in the hope that Brittney Griner would return home from detention in Russia.
The facts: in February 2022, she was arrested at Moscow airport for cannabis possession. She served 10 months of her 9-year prison sentence before being released as part of a prisoner exchange.
That jersey, today, still belongs to Griner. The WNBA forward is still crucial: 11 points and 9 rebounds in 16 minutes in her Olympic debut at Paris ’24 against Japan.
Everything could have gone differently, I could have seen this beauty from behind bars
Brittney Griner
Her experiences make her view participation in this Olympics from a different perspective. She is playing outside the United States for the first time since her arrest in Russia; she hadn’t worn her country’s jersey in an international tournament since 2022.
There’s a desire to block out emotions and bad memories to focus only on the stakes: her third personal Gold medal – after those won in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021 –, and the record-breaking eighth consecutive for the Team USA women.
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Author: Team Dunkest
July 30, 2024 | 3:15 pm
