BENSALEM, Pa. — The march for No. 7 officially began today for the 2020 USA Olympic Women’s basketball team.
The six-time defending Olympic gold medalists feature an experienced roster which was announced Monday morning on NBC’s TODAY show. Essentially the Red, White and Blue will be represented by two five-time Olympians, one four-time Olympian, one three-time Olympian, two who will be competing in their second Olympics and six who will step on the Olympic court for the first time this summer.
The XXXII Olympic Games women’s basketball competition will be held July 26-Aug. 8 at the Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.
Headlining the team are longtime USA National Team members Sue Bird (of the Seattle Storm) and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), who each donned a USA Basketball jersey for the first time in 2000 and own a combined eight Olympic and seven FIBA World Cup gold medals, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx), who also captured gold at the 2010 FIBA World Cup.
Expecting to play in a third Olympic Games is Tina Charles (Washington Mystics), a three-time World Cup gold medalist; while 2016 Olympic gold medalists Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury) and Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm), each of whom have captured at two World Cup gold medals, return to chase a second Olympic gold in Tokyo.
Two athletes who are pursuing their first Olympic gold medal and who already own a FIBA World Cup gold medal are Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm) and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).
Stepping onto the world stage for the first time at a FIBA senior-level five-on-five competition will be Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Phoenix Mercury) and Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces).
“USA Basketball has never been in a better place,” said U.S. Olympic Team head coach Dawn Staley (South Carolina), who claimed three gold medals as an athlete and helped guide two more Olympic teams to gold as an assistant coach.
“I’m honored to be the coach of such an amazing collection of talented women, both those named to the team and those who gave their all the last few years but won’t be with us in Tokyo. The fact that some of the players who won’t suit up this summer would start for any other country is a testament to their talent and to what USA Basketball has done to build a program that lifts up our female athletes every single day.”
Staley will be assisted by Dan Hughes, Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (Connecticut Sun).
The Fixtures
The American women will open Olympic preliminary round play on July 27 against 2019 FIBA Africa champion Nigeria at 12:40 a.m. (all game times listed are EDT), will face host and 2019 FIBA Asia gold medalist Japan on July 30 at 12:40 a.m., and will cap the first round with a contest against 2019 FIBA Europe silver medalist France on Aug. 2 at 12:30 a.m.
Teams will be seeded following the preliminary round, and the top two teams from each of the three groups and the two best third-place teams, according to FIBA’s placement rules, will qualify for the medal round.
In the medal round, teams will compete in a knockout bracket, with winners advancing from the Aug. 4 quarterfinals to the Aug. 6 semifinals. The bronze medal game will be played on Aug. 7 (3:30 a.m.), and the gold medal game will be played on Aug. 8 (Aug. 7 at 10:30 p.m. EDT), on the morning of the 2020 closing ceremony.
— From USA Basketball Communications
