“My taxes have paid for this one!” — 3x gold medalist Dawn Staley claps back at critic as she arrives in Paris for the 2024 Olympics

Dawn Staley is in Paris to attend the 2024 Summer Olympics, and she had a witty reply to a critic questioning that her visit was funded by U.S. taxpayers. South Carolina women's basketball coach retorted that her taxes had paid for the trip while sharing deep patriotism for the US flag.

Staley toured Paris as part of the Presidential delegation for the opening ceremony on Friday. Staley shared a glimpse of the trip on X and posted photos of the Presidential seal, coins and two boxes of candy signed by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Dawn Staley captioned her post on X:

“Day 1 was truly an amazing experience. Candy? Coins? Seals? PJ? Anyone? Only it is PRESIDENTIAL for me.”

An X user was critical of Staley's participation in the Presidential delegation:

“well enjoy Dawn, the US taxpayers are paying for it. Yep, those who are struggling to put food on the table.”

Staley wrote back that her taxes funded the trip:

“Uuuuhhh my taxes have paid for this one! And please don’t try to make anyone feel bad…we are representing the red, white and blue with great pride and with the utmost patriotism.”

First Lady Jill Biden is also part of the delegation, along with Olympian Brian Boitano and several high-ranking officials.

Staley won gold medals in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics as a player. She was the head coach of Team USA which won the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

USC Athletic Director hails Dawn Staley as an "Olympic icon"

USC Athletic Director Ray Tanner was all praise for the South Carolina basketball coach and shared that the program took pride in the representation. In a statement on July 23, Tanner said:

“Dawn Staley is a United States Olympic icon – four gold medals, three as a player and one as a head coach, for the USA women’s basketball team, the flag bearer for Team USA at the 2004 Olympic opening ceremonies, and now a member of the U.S. presidential delegation who will represent our country at the Paris opening ceremonies,”

Staley has led the South Carolina women's basketball team to eight regular-season championships, eight SEC tournament championships, and three NCAA basketball national championships.