Dawn Staley says postponing the Olympics ‘absolutely the right’ decision
In the span of a few weeks, Dawn Staley saw her hopes of winning both a national title and Olympic gold medal this year go up in smoke, as the growing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the NCAA tournament, then the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
In a statement, the South Carolina and USA Basketball women’s basketball head coach applauded the move to delay the Olympics until 2021.
“Like so many of the decisions we are making right now, this was a difficult one to hear, but absolutely the right one to make,” Staley said. “Postponing the Olympics is a significant measure, but one that brings relief for all the athletes and coaches who know that we need and are praying that we get enough time and distance to see COVID-19 end. Now is the time for all of us to focus on those who are being impacted by the virus in a much bigger way than sports. My heart and my prayers go out to them and to those who are in our communities fighting off and finding a way to end COVID-19.”
Staley’s sentiment is in line with the majority of American athletes who responded to a U.S. Olympic Committee survey saying they felt the Games should be delayed, not canceled, as officials grapple with a global pandemic that has affected life for millions of people and impacted the training routine for many athletes.
Staley, who took over as head coach of the U.S. national team in 2017, has already won five Olympic gold medal in her career — three times as a player in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and twice as an assistant coach in 2008 and 2016. She guided the American squad to a title in the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup of Basketball, securing a spot in the Olympics.
But speaking in February when reports that the Games might be postponed or canceled were first starting to circulate, Staley indicated that public health, as well as her own, were her top priority.
“That’s tough, because you work extremely hard, all of them — there’s probably over 10,000 Olympic athletes with teams and individuals that would be robbed of an opportunity because of coronavirus. If that’s the case, that’s the case. I don’t want to go if it’s prevalent over there. I picked up something in Rio (2016) that I’m just getting over, so surely I don’t want the coronavirus.”
In addition to Staley, Gamecock great A’ja Wilson was considered a strong pick to make the 2020 team and compete for her first Olympic gold medal, and former USC player Allisha Gray was in Team USA’s player pool as well.
USA Basketball also issued its own statement on the postponement Tuesday.
“The decision to postpone the 2020 Olympics was a difficult decision and it was the correct one. USA Basketball is in full agreement and support of the decision made by the IOC and the Japanese government to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” the statement read. “The health, wellness and safety of the world, as well as our athletes, coaches, staff and fans is USA Basketball’s No. 1 priority and this postponement was necessary to ensure that.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 3:24 PM.
