North Philly Native Dawn Staley Leads USA Women's Basketball To 7th-Consecutive Gold Medal, Won't Coach Team At Paris Olympics
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- North Philadelphia native Dawn Staley led USA's women's basketball team to its seventh-consecutive gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. But, there will be new beginnings the next time Team USA heads to the Olympics.
Staley, the first Black head coach of the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, announced she will not coach Team USA at the Paris Olympics in 2024. She has been a part of six of the team's last seven gold medal runs.
"Our country has a lot of great coaches that can get the job done," Staley told USA Today's Dan Wolken. "Me, being a part of I believe six, that's enough. I'm full, I'm full."
Her Olympic career, known as the Dawn Legacy, every time she attended the Olympics as either a women's basketball player or coach she struck gold.
Staley won gold medals with Team USA as a player in 1996, 2000, and 2004, as an assistant coach in 2008 and 2016, and as head coach in the Tokyo Olympics. On Saturday, Aug. 7, Team USA beat Japan 90-75 for their seventh-consecutive gold medal.
Team USA's seven gold medals ties the longest gold medal streak for any Olympic team sport, per The Undefeated.
"Giving God all the Glory for his ever loving favor @usabasketball got the GOLD once again! On the 7th day we didn't rest because we couldn't," Staley tweeted.
Staley isn't the only hometown hero returning to the Philadelphia region after shining in the summer games. There were some amazing athletes attaining amazing accomplishments in Tokyo, continuing a long tradition of Olympic success stories from the region.
As the flame on the Olympic cauldron dims, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games end in what for many was a year like no other. And as athletes pick up their accomplishments head home, local starts from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are brining back not just medals but a sense of pride.
"I actually looked at a list before we talked and there's a lot more than I even realized so it's pretty cool that there are so many athletes that are from our region," Jeremy Jordan said.
Jeremy Jordan is a senior associate dean at Temple University's School of Sport Tourism and Hospitality Management.
He says from Athing Mu winning gold in the women's 800 meters in track, to Carli Lloyd leading women's soccer to a bronze medal against Australia, competitors from the region are doing more than just representing for their country.
"To have athletes from our region, it gives us an additional point of pride, there's actually a psychological study, it's called Basking in Reflective Glory, when the successes of a team or athlete we take it on," Jordan said.
Team USA topped the medal table winning more gold medals and more medals overall than any other country in the Olympics. The United States is bringing home 113 total medals -- 39 are gold.
CBS3's Jasmine Payoute and Alyssa Adams contributed to this report.
