Pat Summitt’s Olympic impact
Pat Summitt is no longer with us, but the Olympics in Rio highlight the impact and reach she’s had on the game of basketball.
Since the inauguration of women’s basketball as an Olympic sport at the 1976 Games in Montreal, Summitt has touched every version of Team USA. Regardless if it’s Summitt on the roster, or one of the players she’s coached, each and every Olympic team has had her fingerprints on it.
The former Tennessee Volunteer head coach started her Olympic journey as a 24-year-old forward on the 1976 team, helping the United States capture a silver medal. Following that performance, she was selected as an assistant coach on the 1980 team, but tensions with the Soviet Union at the time forced the United States to boycott the Games.
Team USA returned to the Games in 1984 in Los Angeles, but this time with Summitt as the head coach. Under her leadership, the United States won its first gold medal in women’s basketball, which started a run of seven golds in eight Olympics.
From NBC Sports:
“Pat Summitt was a trailblazer in women’s basketball,” USA Basketball said in a statement. “She set the standard and raised the bar for other players and coaches to follow. Her incredible passion for the game was evident in everything she did. Pat touched the lives of so many people and USA Basketball is grateful for all that she contributed as a player and coach during her long and illustrious career. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family. She is an icon who has left us all much too soon.”
Even though 1984 would be her last hurrah as a member of Team USA, Summitt’s former players have been a big part of its dominance. Altogether, nine Volunteers who played under Summitt went on to become Olympians. Combined, they’ve won 14 medals – 13 gold and one bronze.
Tamika Catchings, who is making her fourth straight Olympic appearance, is the lone Summitt descendant going to Rio. Catchings will continue to add to her and Summitt’s legacy, as she attempts to join Lisa Leslie as the only women from Team USA to win four consecutive gold medals (teammates Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, as well as Team USA beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings also have that opportunity).
Now four years removed from coaching at Tennessee, nobody really knows how long the streak will last. But for the time being, we’ll appreciate the mark she continues to leave on the game.
