Brittney Griner has won her third Olympic medal two years after being sentenced to a Russian penal colony. On Sunday, she played a pivotal role in the U.S. women’s basketball team’s comeback, overcoming a 10-point third-quarter deficit to secure a 67-66 victory over France and earning the gold medal.
This triumph marks the eighth consecutive gold medal for the team. As the players celebrated, Griner was visibly emotional, embracing her medal with tears of gratitude. Her wife, Cherelle Griner, joined her in celebrating the moment.
Griner expressed that this gold medal would “hold a special place amongst the other two” which she won at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Rio Games in 2016. She shared, “My country fought for me to get back. And I was able to bring home gold for my country. There’s just no greater feeling.”
In February 2022, Griner spent nearly 10 months in Russian custody after being detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil. She was in Russia to compete in the women’s professional basketball league and was sentenced to nine years in prison for her drug offense.
Griner admitted to having the cartridges but insisted it was an accident. Records indicated the cannabis oil had been prescribed to her by an American doctor for pain management. She was released in December 2022 following a historic prisoner swap negotiated by President Joe Biden with Russian President Vladimir Putin.