"Can't get any less than silver": South Carolina HC Dawn Staley in awe of USA artistic swimming as team ends a 20-year medal drought
South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley is thrilled by the USA artistic swimming team's remarkable achievement: ending a 20-year medal drought on Wednesday night. The US last won a medal in this event at the 2004 games in Athens.
This year in Paris, China took gold with 996.1389 points, the United States secured silver with 914.3421 points, and Spain claimed bronze with 900.7319 points. After two decades of struggling to reach the podium, the US team's acrobatic routine on Wednesday was a spectacular comeback.
"It was magic," team coach Andrea Fuentes said via Olympics.com. "It has been a dream of a system that we have created."
In an interview with the media, Adam Andrasko—head of USA Artistic Swimming—noted the rising attention to the sport.
"There is attention to the sport that has never happened before. This is an absolutely different sport."
Staley, who has led the South Carolina Gamecocks to three national championships and won three Olympic gold medals as a player, was in awe of Team USA's performance. On Wednesday, she tweeted:
“Our @USASwimming….. team artistic swimming team just killed it! Medal them please! Let’s go get this gold medal!! Can’t get any less than silver right now! Come on!”
Staley has been supporting other Olympic athletes, as she was spotted cheering on Jordan Chiles in the women's floor exercise final and Sha'Carri Richardson in the 100-meter final.
She has also been sharing her Olympic experiences on social media, including an encounter with NFL legend Tom Brady and Leo Neugebauer—a recent University of Texas graduate and NCAA outdoor decathlon champion who won a silver medal in the games.
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Dawn Staley’s South Carolina is about to see a significant financial boost
The NCAA Division-I Board of Governors is planning to introduce postseason revenue sharing in women's basketball. This proposal is currently under review and, if approved, will kick off in the 2024-2025 NCAA tournament.
The plan is simple: reward women's college basketball programs with financial incentives for making it to the March Madness tournament each year. The final decision on this proposal is expected in January.
‘Garnet and Cocky’ report that the funds for these payouts will come from ESPN's latest TV contract, which includes the rights to the women's NCAA Tournament and other championships. A whopping $65 million from this annual contract is allocated for women's basketball.
For powerhouse programs like South Carolina, this money will be a well-deserved return on their recent investments in women's basketball.