U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team

There’s a lot of gold heading to Beijing in the hands of the U.S. women’s Olympic team. Lisa Leslie (pictured, left, playing for the Los Angeles Sparks) is a three-time gold medal winner, Katie Smith is a two-time gold winner, and five other members of the 12-woman team have earned Olympic gold. They are focused on continuing their winning ways at the games: the U.S. women’s team has won three consecutive gold medals in Olympic competition. Their coach, Anne Donovan, is also a three-time Olympian.

Since women’s basketball was named an official Olympic sport in 1976, the U.S. women’s team has only lost three games. They will be one of 12 women’s basketball teams competing in Beijing. After the U.S. team, the Soviet Union (now the Commonwealth of Independent States) claims the number 2 spot in medal winning.

The members of the United States team are:

Seimone Augustus (Bozier City, La.) – Forward

Sue Bird (Syosset, N.Y.) – Guard

Lisa Leslie (Hawthorne, Calif.) – Center

Candace Parker (Naperville, Fla.) – Forward, center and guard

Katie Smith (Logan, Ohio) – Guard

Diana Taurasi (Chino, Calif.) – Guard and forward

Tina Thompson (Inglewood, Calif.) – Forward

Sylvia Fowles (Miami, Fla.) – Center

Cappie Pondexter (Oceanside, Calif.) – Guard

Tamika Catchings (Stratford, N.J.) – Forward

Kara Lawson (Alexandria, Vir.) – Guard

DeLisha Milton-Jones (Riceboro, Ga.) – Forward