The United States women’s national basketball team will play its first game in London since winning gold at the 2012 Olympics, when it takes on Germany in a preparatory competition for the Paris Olympics on July 23.
The tune-up, which will take place before the start of the Paris 2024 Games, will take place at the O2 Arena in London. This will be part of a series of marquee games for USA Basketball, as the men’s national team faces South Sudan and Germany at the O2 Arena on July 20 and 22, respectively.
“USA Basketball is excited to add our women’s national team to the USA Basketball Showcase in London,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said in a press release. “Not only will playing Germany provide a great opportunity for our team, but it will also highlight the growth of women’s basketball around the world as we prepare to defend our gold medal in Paris.”
This will also pit Team USA against a possible opponent at the Paris Olympics, since Germany and the United States are both in Pool C. Germany is led by Dallas Wings star Satou Sabally, his sister and New York Liberty forward Nyara Sabally, and Liberty wing Leonie. Fiebich. Japan and Belgium are the other two countries in the American team’s pool.
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The women’s national team’s exhibition against Germany will take place just days after the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, which will see the U.S. Olympic team take on the WNBA All-Stars. This exhibition will take place in Phoenix and is scheduled for July 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET. USA Basketball said Thursday that more information, including training camp details and final team rosters, would be announced at a later date.
The United States women’s national team will look to win an eighth consecutive gold medal at the upcoming Olympics.
Who will make Team USA and try to make it remains a question heading into the WNBA season. USA Basketball recently held pre-Olympic training camps in early February and in Cleveland during the women’s Final Four. The final team could ultimately make a statement about what the committee values: youth and the future or experience and proven success. Caitlin Clark, the presumptive No. 1 pick in Monday’s WNBA draft, is in the selection pool, although she has yet to participate in a senior national team camp this cycle. She was invited to Cleveland’s camp, but did not attend after Iowa advanced to the Final Four.
Other potential Olympic participants invited to recent camps include Aliyah Boston, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, Arike Ogunbowale and Shakira Austin. Allisha Gray and Jackie Young both won gold medals in 3×3 at the Tokyo Games, but would be competing in the 5v5 Olympics for the first time. Diana Taurasi is poised to become the veteran of the group, as she is looking to win a sixth consecutive gold medal.
“When we invite people to attend USA Basketball training camp, it’s sometimes with an eye toward the future,” Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the women’s national team committee, said during the camp. from February. “I remember when Aliyah Boston was in her first mini-camp, I remember when Breanna Stewart was in her first national team camp, I remember when many players had come to the camp while they were in college or maybe just finishing school. and some made the Olympic teams and some didn’t. I think it’s their give this visibility.
Stewart played with the senior national team at the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto before making his Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, a few months after finishing his college career at UConn. Taurasi was the youngest player on the 2004 gold medal-winning team in Athens.
“USA Basketball has always been a certain way of playing, where you put everything you do well aside for the good of the team,” Taurasi said last week. “No matter who wears the jersey, the style of play is the same. You try to share the ball, you try to play together and play unselfishly and the ultimate goal is to win, no matter who wears the jersey.
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(Photo: Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)