What You Need to Know About This Year's Olympics


When the women’s basketball portion of the Rio Olympics tips off, there’s little doubt as to who will be the gold medal favorites. Over the past two decades, the U.S. Women’s National Team has dominated basketball as much as any country can dominate a sport.

Here’s what you need to know about this year’s tournament as the USA vies for a sixth straight gold medal:

Which countries are participating?

Group A includes: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, France, Japan and Turkey.

Group B includes: Canada, China, Senegal, Serbia, Spain and the USA.

Which WNBA players are participating?

Twenty-six active WNBA players representing nine different countries and 11 of the 12 WNBA teams will play in the 2016 Olympics.

Group Country Player WNBA Team
A Australia Penny Taylor Phoenix Mercury
A Australia Erin Phillips Dallas Wings
A Belarus Lindsey Harding Phoenix Mercury
A Brazil Erika de Souza Chicago Sky
A Brazil Clarissa dos Santos Chicago Sky
B Canada Natalie Achonwa Indiana Fever
A Japan Ramu Tokashiki Seattle Storm
B Serbia Ana Dabovic Los Angeles Sparks
B Serbia Sonja Petrovic Phoenix Mercury
B Spain Astou Ndour San Antonio Stars
B USA Seimone Augustus Minnesota Lynx
B USA Sue Bird Seattle Storm
B USA Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever
B USA Tina Charles New York Liberty
B USA Elena Delle Donne Chicago Sky
B USA Sylvia Fowles Minnesota Lynx
B USA Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury
B USA Angel McCoughtry Atlanta Dream
B USA Maya Moore Minnesota Lynx
B USA Breanna Stewart Seattle Storm
B USA Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury
B USA Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx

 

How do the Olympics affect the WNBA season?

The WNBA holds a break during Olympic years and opts not to hold an All-Star Game. This year’s Olympic break began on July 23 and runs through August 25.

How does the Olympic tournament work?

Teams qualified through seven different tournaments over the past two years: the 2014 FIBA World Championship, EuroBasket Women 2015, the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship, the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, AfroBasket Women 2015, and the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

In Rio, the teams are divided into two groups of six countries, playing each team in their group once. Two points are awarded for a victory, one for a loss. The top four teams in each group qualify for the quarterfinals.

When are the games?

The games begin on Saturday, August 6 and the preliminary round runs through Sunday, August 14. The quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday, August 16, followed by the semifinals on Thursday, August 18, the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal Games on Saturday, August 20.

Click here to view USA’s schedule

How dominant has USA been at the Olympics?

The United States has won the last five gold medals in women’s basketball and has compiled a 58-3 record overall. The team enters 2016 on a 41-game winning streak, defeating opponents by an average of nearly 30 points during the streak.

Only two teams have won more consecutive gold medals: the USA men’s basketball team with seven from 1936-68 and the India men’s field hockey team with six from 1928-56.

Past USA women’s stars include WNBA Top 20@20 selections Swin Cash, Cynthia Cooper, Yolanda Griffith, Lisa Leslie, Cappie Pondexter, Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Teresa Weatherspoon.

Leslie and Swoopes were members of the 1996 team that helped build the momentum to eventually launch the WNBA in 1997.

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Who’s on this year’s USA team?

The USA roster includes 12 WNBA players who boast a combined 58 WNBA All-Star appearances. Among them are five former WNBA MVPs and every WNBA scoring champion since 2008.

This year’s tri-captains are veterans Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi, who have been a part of the country’s last three gold medal-winning teams and could join Teresa Edwards and Lisa Leslie as basketball’s only four-time gold medalists.

Chicago Sky forward Elena Delle Donne and Minnesota Lynx wing Maya Moore — the past two WNBA MVPs — also highlight the roster, while the league’s current leading scorer and rebounder, New York Liberty forward Tina Charles, is expected to start.

Delle Donne is one of three first-year Olympians on the roster alongside Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner and Seattle Storm rookie sensation Breanna Stewart.

Bird, Taurasi, Charles, Moore and Stewart give the U.S. five former Connecticut Huskies stars on the team, which is coached by legendary UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.

Who are the other medal contenders?

Australia has been the USA’s primary competition over the past 20 years, falling to the U.S. in the final game three times over that span to earn silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008. The Australian “Opals” also won bronze in 1996 and 2012. They will have the benefit of the return of star Penny Taylor, the three-time WNBA champion who missed the 2012 Olympics due to injury.

France should be in contention after taking home silver in 2012, while Serbia and Canada will look for continued success after winning the EuroBasket and FIBA Americas championships, respectively.