Team USA Women’s Basketball Wins 10th Olympic Gold

The USA Basketball women’s national team narrowly clinched its eighth straight — and 10th overall — Olympic gold medal in a hard-fought final today in Paris. 

With a combined eight WNBA champions, three WNBA MVPs and five WNBA Rookies of the Year on the roster, Team USA always had gold as their target.

Leading the charge was guard Diana Taurasi, who earned her sixth Olympic gold medal since joining Team USA in 2004. “There's a reason why certain people win — because they have a winning mentality, and they bring it into the locker room, into the gym every single day,” says Diana. 

Nike signature athlete A’ja Wilson — who joins Taurasi and teammate Brittney Griner in being one of only 12 players to have earned a World Championship gold medal, an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA title and a WNBA Championship — averaged 18.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. “In the Olympics, you’re really just trying to win each day,” she says. “The gold is the tangible thing that lets you know I got this. But winning those mini possessions, and those practice days and battles, are 10 times harder than winning the gold,” A'ja says.

Olympic first-timer and fellow Nike signature athlete Sabrina Ionescu played starting point guard in all six match-ups, averaging 6.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists on her way to achieve her first Olympic medal. ”I’ve always just really wanted to win at everything that I do. I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that,” Sabrina says. 

A'ja and Sabrina are both members of Nike’s Athlete Think Tank, a collective of influential athlete voices that the company can listen and learn from to better champion women and girls in sport, inform innovative product creation, and create meaningful experiences.