Cheryl Miller, Lauren Jackson, and the best women's basketball performances in the history of the Olympics
Women’s basketball is poised to have a thrilling tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with stars like A’ja Wilson, Emma Meesseman and Ezi Magbegor competing for medals. But before looking forward to the thrilling games on the schedule, it's the perfect opportunity to look back at the best women’s basketball performances from the Olympic Games past.
Starting in 1976, when women’s basketball was added to the Olympic programme, here are the best performances from each Olympics.
Uljana Semanova was the best player of both the Olympic Games Montreal 1976 and the Olympic Games Moscow 1980. In the latter, she used her 2.13m (seven-foot) frame to control the gold-medal game. She scored an impressive 27 points and had 21 rebounds to help her team win gold.
Four years later, at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984, Cheryl Miller was in her element. Having grown up in southern California and attending college at USC, she reached new heights at her home Games, leading the U.S. to gold at the Forum. In six games, she had a total of 99 points, 42 rebounds and 19 steals.
Katrina McClain made her Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Seoul 1988, and she quickly showed she was a star to be reckoned with. McClain led Team USA scorers with 17.6 points per game, and led the entire tournament with 10.4 rebounds per game. Her best performance came in the USA's semifinal win, where McClain had 26 points, 15 rebounds, a block and a steal. The USA went on to defend the title they had won four years earlier, in no small part due to the exploits of McClain.
Hortencia Mercari, known better to her Brazilian fans as simply Hortencia or “The Queen,” didn’t leave the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 with a medal, but she still made a huge mark on those Games. Hortenica led the Olympic tournament with 18.8 points per game, including one game in the preliminary round where she scored 26 and registered three steals.
At the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, the United States started a streak of gold medals that the team headed to Paris 2024 is hoping to continue. Leading the way in the gold medal game was Lisa Leslie who shot 12-14 from the field, scoring 29 points in front of the home crowd.
Standing at 2.18m (7-foot-2), Margo Dydek put in a dominant performance at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000, despite Poland losing in the quarterfinals. Dydek averaged a double-double, scoring 20.4 and grabbing 12.1 rebounds per game. She added three blocks per game, as well.
Lauren Jackson and Diana Taurasi back after great previous performances
At 43 years old, Lauren Jackson was just named to the Australian women’s team headed to Paris 2024. If she needs inspiration, she can look to the performance she had 20 years ago at the Olympic Games Athens 2004. Jackson led the tournament in total points and rebounds, and in the gold medal game, she had 12 points and 14 rebounds as Australia lost a narrow 74-63 game against the USA.
Just a few months after the end of her college career, Sylvia Fowles was on the U.S. team at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008. She showed her worth quickly, scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the U.S. win over the Republic of Korea, and then added another 13 points in the gold-medal game.
Diana Taurasi has been named as part of the U.S. team headed to Paris 2024. She is already the most decorated basketball player in Olympic history. One of her gold medals came at the Olympic Games London 2012. Taurasi led her team in scoring in wins over Czechia, the People’s Republic of China, and in knockout round wins over Canada and Australia.
What was so impressive about the USA's Maya Moore’s performance at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 is the way that she improved as the tournament went on. By the time of the semifinal against France, she scored 15 points in 25 minutes, and then 14 points and six assists in just 17 minutes in the gold-medal game.
One player you will want to keep a close eye on at Paris 2024 showed she was a star at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Emma Meesseman. Playing for Belgium, she led the tournament in points per game with 26.8, and steals per game with 3.5. She was also second in rebounds with 10.5 per game.