Watch: When South Carolina HC Dawn Staley created history by becoming first USA basketball Olympic flag bearer
NBA superstar LeBron James is set to lead the United States of America as the flag bearer at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He follows in the footsteps of Dawn Staley and Sue Bird as the only basketball players who previously held this honor at an Olympic Games opening ceremony.
In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Dawn Staley, the current head coach of the South Carolina women's basketball team, etched her name in history by being the first basketball athlete to carry the flag during such an event (via usabasketball.com):
"It was surprising to me. I just got up and said a few things and five, 10 minutes later, I was standing and accepting the flag bearer position," Staley said after being selected to carry the US national flag.
"It's incredible when you think about it to be the one that's going to lead our delegation into the opening ceremonies and I know that's a big responsibility... But I'm honored it's something that I didn't fathom being a flag bearer for anything, but I'm going do it with dignity, honor and respect," she added.
The legendary basketball champion not only had the honor of carrying the national flag during the opening ceremony but also guided the United States team to a third straight gold medal triumph at the Games. Staley was also a key member of the victorious American squads that captured gold in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Dawn Staley's coaching achievements for Team USA
After retiring from her playing career in 2006, Staley became an assistant coach for the US national team preparing for the World Championships. She continued her coaching journey by assisting the US teams in 2008 and 2016.
After leading Team USA to a gold medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games, she took on coaching roles for the U17 Team in 2014. Later on, the U19 Team in 2015 achieved gold medals at both the U18 Americas Championship and the U19 FIBA World Championship.
As a coach alongside Team USA head coach Geno Auriemma in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she contributed to their sixth consecutive gold medal win. In 2017 she was appointed as the head coach of Team USA's women's basketball team until the 2020 Olympics.
In Tokyo, she made history as the first Black woman to lead an Olympic team to gold while her former teammate Sue Bird became just the second basketball athlete to be a flag bearer. Additionally, she guided Team USA to a gold medal at the 2018 World Cup in Spain. Secured two gold medals, at the 2019 and 2021 FIBA AmeriCups.