Undefeated at the Olympics since 1992, the United States women’s basketball team aims for an 8th consecutive gold medal

LONDON — When Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart take to the basketball court Monday for their opening game of the Paris Olympics, they will be looking to extend a winning streak that began before most of them were even born.

The United States women’s national basketball team is undefeated at the Olympics since 1992. Each member of the team has won an Olympic or World Cup gold medal. Together, they are aiming for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, and tenth overall.

LeBron James may have been the flag bearer for Team USA at Friday’s opening ceremony. But it’s the American women who are leading one of the most successful dynasties in basketball history — or any sport.

But some big names didn’t make the U.S. team this year. And with the Olympics taking place in the middle of the WNBA season, those who were selected had little time to practice together.

Other countries have meanwhile sent more athletes to the WNBA, playing alongside the Americans, studying their absolute dominance on the basketball court – and trying to catch up.

All of these elements could combine to threaten one of the longest gold medal streaks in Olympic history.

How not to feel the pressure of history

When asked how she keeps her players grounded when success has come so easily to them, USA head coach Cheryl Reeve says, “You can’t escape history.”

“We’re building on this incredible culture that was built a long, long time ago. So I think we’re aware of that,” Reeve told reporters in London last week after winning an exhibition game against Germany, 84-57. “But I think it’s also really important that this trip is unique and special for this group. It’s our first experience together.”

It’s a first for this particular combination of players. The team includes new Olympians Sabrina Ionescu, Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas. The other nine have all competed in the Olympics before. At 42, Diana Taurasi makes history by becoming the oldest woman in U.S. basketball history to compete in the Olympics.

If you think two-time gold medalist LeBron James is impressive, still playing basketball at age 39, on the same team as his son, the Los Angeles Lakers, consider Taurasi: She’s three years older than James. She’s won five Olympic gold medals and is aiming for her sixth.

“I’m not going to the Olympics to say goodbye. I’m trying to win a gold medal with my teammates. That’s the only reason I play basketball,” she told NPR. “So I feel exactly like I did in my first Olympics. My back hurts a little more, though!”

Griner’s first trip abroad since his ordeal in Russia

The U.S. team also includes Griner, who is 6-foot-10 and a dunker. Paris is her third Olympic appearance. But it’s her first trip abroad since she was held captive in Russia for 10 months.

She was traveling back and forth to Russia to play in the Euroleague when, in 2022, two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil prescribed by a doctor were found in her luggage. Griner was convicted of drug trafficking, sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony, but later released in a prisoner exchange.

Griner spoke to NPR this spring about her mental health struggles since then. She has also written a memoir, Go homerecounting the mental and physical abuse he suffered while in detention in Russia.

She was benched for last week’s exhibition game against Germany. But Reeve told reporters that Griner is “perfectly fine” and will compete in the Olympics.

Teammate A’ja Wilson says players are trying to support Griner through her trauma.

“We’ll always be her sisters,” Wilson told reporters in response to a question from NPR. “We’re just trying to be there for her and help her and hold her. I’m grateful to be her teammate again.”

Have you ever heard of Caitlin Clark?

One player missing from the Olympics is the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, now a WNBA rookie who is credited with boosting the league’s popularity. There may be a “Caitlin Clark effect” — but the Indiana Fever player was not selected for the Olympics.

“Some of these new fans come in and say, ‘If they lose, it’s because Caitlin Clark wasn’t on that team,'” says Lindsey Darvin, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University. “But that certainly wouldn’t be the case.”

Darvin says Clark is fresh out of college, has only played half a season in the WNBA and “is just not a top 12 player in the United States yet.”

Clark was unable to attend any USA Basketball training camps this year because she played in the Final Four, leading her team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, to the NCAA Division I championship in April. (They lost to South Carolina.)

“People who have just heard of a few players like Caitlin Clark are surprised not to see her on the team because she’s their first introduction to the game,” says Richard Cohen, a British journalist who covers the WNBA. “But for those of us who follow the WNBA closely, she probably never made the team.”

Another player missing from the Olympic list

Analysts say Arike Ogunbowale’s absence is an even bigger surprise. She was named MVP of this year’s WNBA All-Stars, a team that beat this Olympic team earlier this month. Ogunbowale was the leading scorer in that game.

After being cut from the team four years ago, Ogunbowale participated in training camps this year — but later withdrew her name from the race, denouncing the selection process as political.

“I didn’t really feel like they wanted me on that team. So I opted out,” she told ESPN earlier this month.

Darvin, the Syracuse professor, said Team USA’s loss to the WNBA All-Stars of Clark and Ogunbowale was a “wake-up call.”

“When you’re a team that’s been dominant for so long, you don’t take everybody as seriously as you should,” she said. “So I think it was a good opportunity for them to step back and say, ‘OK, we can be beaten.’”

It could also pose a threat to the Paris Olympics.

What does the competition look like?

The U.S. team will play its first Olympic game against Japan in Lille, France, on Monday (9 p.m. local time; 3 p.m. Eastern). The two teams met in the gold medal game in Tokyo three years ago. The U.S. won that game 90-75.

Before arriving in France, the Americans had only three days to train together, in Phoenix, during the WNBA All-Star weekend.

Japan, meanwhile, has been preparing for Monday’s match for nearly a year, while the other countries have been training together full-time for the past month.

“The world is catching up. One of the best teams is France, who obviously have home advantage. Canada is improving. China is looking good,” says Cohen, the British WNBA reporter. “The U.S. remains the most dominant and the favorite. But they’re under a lot of pressure.”

“You win that much, and the first person to lose will be remembered as the one who ended that dynasty,” he said.