"They told me not to tell anybody": When Dawn Staley revealed she was chosen as Team USA flag bearer over athletes who faced "life-threatening" issues

It is a dream come true for any athlete to be a part of their country's Olympics contingent as the flag bearer. For Dawn Staley, that dream came true in 2004 during the Olympic Games in Greece.

Staley was nominated by Team USA to be the flag bearer. It was the last year of her Olympic career as a player, and she was in the nascent stages of her coaching career.

How Dawn Staley became the Team USA flag bearer in 2004

During the 2020 pandemic, in a podcast conversation with Napheesa Collier and A'ja Wilson, Staley spoke about how she became the flag bearer in 2004.

She first explained the process of how the contingent chose the flag bearer. The captains of each sport came together with a candidate from their respective sport as well to take a vote on who should take that honor. Speaking of her own experience in her third stint in the Olympics, she said:

“It was probably about 15 to 20 people and you know I had to represent myself, my teammates told me you go, you're our choice. But I was the only one that was [alone] in the room, everybody else was bringing in other candidates. You have to understand it is athletes who have overcome like life-threatening illnesses, injuries and then it was like little old me.” (20:15 onwards)

Staley was part of the 1996 roster that started Team USA's dominant streak of gold medals in women's basketball. By 2004, she had earned the respect and admiration of almost everyone in the contingent.

In 2004, she was coaching Temple University and running a foundation to help middle school girls balance education and basketball. She spoke about her pitch and why she should become the flag bearer:

“So after you hear about 20 candidates, all different types of stories, we just take a vote and then we come we take a vote and they come back with the top five and I was in the top five. I did not vote for myself y'all. These people have like life threatening (injuries/issues) right?”

The contingent further reduced the top five into three top choices, and eventually, they finalized Staley. Staley was understandably astonished at the time and could not believe what had just happened.

“It was me and I really did not comprehend what that was,” she said.

Upon hearing the news, she left the meeting and met Carol Cohen outside. She was also in disbelief after hearing the news from Staley:

“They told me not to tell anybody, said keep it quiet. So was it was the coolest, coolest very cool, probably one of the most gratifying moments.”

Dawn Staley's Olympics experience

After missing out on the selection in 1992, Staley was a regular on the Team USA contingent: three editions as a player (1996, 2000, and 2004), two as an assistant coach (2008 and 2016), and finally as the head coach in 2020. Staley won six gold medals in those years.

Dawn Staley celebrates Olympic Gold Medal with her coaching staff in 2020 (2021) [Basketball - Olympics: Day 16 - Source: Getty]

Even in the 2024 Olympics, she went to Paris with the Team USA contingent but only cheered for them as a spectator and fan, not on the coaching staff. It is safe to say Staley is an Olympic legend.