2024 Olympics in Paris: How many Olympic medals does Diana Taurasi have?

Few basketball players have enjoyed the longevity that Diana Taurasi has built up in over 20 seasons playing in the elite. She was selected by the Phoenix Mercury as the first overall draft pick in 2004, and went on to become the most decorated player in WNBA history.

At 42 she’s still going strong as the oldest active player in the WNBA and the first and only player to have reached 10,000 points in the American league (her career total stands at a 10,447).

Diana Taurasi’s incredible career of honors, records and achievements

The three-time WNBA champion with Phoenix (2007, 2009, 2014) and MVP in 2009, Taurasi also owns a host of league records - including a some odd ones (the most points in a single game without a two-point field goal attempt (28 vs Las Vegas, June 2018; and the only player to score 800 points in a season more than once). Then there’s her consistency. She has spent the best part of two decades averaging 20 points per game and her record for consecutive 20-point games. set between 2006 and 2007, stood until this year.

Taurasi has also made her way into the history books at the Olympic Games. USA Basketball won their 10th gold medal (the eighth in a row) in the women’s category beating France 67-66 on the final day of action at Paris 2024. And Taurasi made history even without stepping out on court at Bercy Arena. She was already tied with Spain’s Rudy Fernández as the two players to have played in the most editions of the Games (six) and with today’s victory, she overtook her old team mate Sue Bird as the player to have won the most Olympic gold medals in the basketball event.

Bird and Taurasi made their Olympic debuts on 14 August 2004 in the opening group game win against New Zealand at Athens 2004, Dee contributing 12 points in the 99-47 win and Bird, six. Taurasi finished the tournament with 68 points, an average of 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and the United States progressed to the final where they beat Australia 74–63.

Sue Bird calls time on her playing career

Four years later in Beijing, she collected her second gold medal, again beating Australia in the final and finished with an average of 10.9 points per game - figures she would improve on in the next two editions. Bird and Taurasi featured as the United States defended their title in London, then again in Rio and Tokyo.

Tokyo would be Sue Bird’s last Olympics. She and DT were the only surviving members of the Athens 2004 team and the only ones with gold medals from all five previous editions. Bird announced her retirement in June 2022 at the age of 41, leaving Taurasi, who was still active, as the only person capable of taking the record outright.

Former USA head coach Geno Auriemma, who also mentored Taurasi during her formative years at UConn, paid tribute to an extraordinary player: “The commitment and passion, the love of the game... all these in and of itself would be monumental. But add in that for two decades she was the face of the team, the best player, best teammate and the greatest winner in the history of the game.”