PARIS — When Diana Taurasi was announced as a member of the U.S. women’s basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, her intentions were clear: She wanted to win one more gold medal than her basketball bestie, Sue Bird, Team USA’s longtime point guard.
Sunday evening in Bercy Arena, in the final event of the 2024 Summer Games, Taurasi accomplished that feat when the Americans hung on for a 67-66 win over France to earn an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
So, how is it to be able to brag about that to Bird, who was sitting courtside watching the game?
“Yeah, it’s the only reason I came. It’s funny because we scored the same amount of points today,” Taurasi deadpanned after the win, a game in which she did not leave the bench.
In Tokyo three years ago, after Bird and Taurasi had led Team USA to its seventh consecutive gold, Taurasi caused a stir when she ended her TV interview by quipping, “See you in Paris.”
She wasn’t possibly serious, was she? Turns out, she was.
The 42-year-old Taurasi became the oldest American basketball player to ever compete in the Olympics when she started the first pool play game on July 29 against Japan.
She wasn’t the only seasoned veteran playing hoops for the U.S. this summer, as 39-year-old LeBron James led the U.S. men to gold over France on Saturday night. But neither of them took the title of oldest hooper at these, or any, Games. That distinction went to 43-year-old Lauren Jackson, who returned to the Australian Opals after a 12-year absence. Australia beat Belgium Sunday for Bronze.
Though coach Cheryl Reeve didn’t put Taurasi in the gold medal game, she was effusive in her praise of the woman widely considered to be the GOAT of the WNBA.
“She’s defined USA basketball,” Reeve said. “And in her final Olympics, the mark that she’s making in terms of leadership, just sharing the knowledge that she has. She’s a six-time Olympian who’s left her mark every time she’s around the team. I don’t know that there’s a greater competitor in USA basketball (history). Dee is sorta on Mount Rushmore in that way.”
Taurasi had an up-and-down Olympics. Though she wasn’t scoring much, if at all, she started in all three pool play games that the U.S. played in Lille, a town on the northern border of France. When the team moved to Paris for the knockout round, she was benched in favor of Jackie Young. Taurasi came off the bench to play 14 minutes in the quarterfinals and just six minutes in the semis.
Asked how this medal compares to her other five, Taurai joked, “I like the other ones better.”
“It always feels good when you beat the home team at home,” she said. “There’s a little bit of satisfaction there.”
So, what does this mean for the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Taurasi’s hometown of Los Angeles?
“I’ll be there,” she said, “with a beer, on the beach, sitting next to Sue.”
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diana Taurasi has 6 Olympic golds, most ever by a basketball player
