The 1976 women’s basketball team did more than make Olympic history
As we wait to see if the Summer Olympic Games will really be held this year after already being delayed a year by covid, I have been thinking about the Olympic Games of 1976.
I remember rooting for Bruce Jenner as he won the decathlon and watching his 6’ 5” teammate Dwight Stones as he seemed to fly over the high jump bar. Earlier in the year I had cheered for Dorothy Hamill in the Winter Games as she won the gold medal for figure skating—and inspired many a haircut in our high school.
I played my first year of basketball that winter and remember being aware that women were going to play basketball in the Olympics for the first time that summer. I don’t remember if the games were televised. If they were, they were probably shown in the middle of the night.
But if I had to guess, the games were not televised. After all, the first women’s team to represent our country on the basketball court operated on a shoestring budget and considered themselves lucky to have uniforms. Their debut didn’t exactly have advertisers beating down the door.
Despite uncertain or even low expectations from others about how they would do, the team and coach had high expectations for themselves.
Years later, team member Nancy Lieberman said, “I can remember sitting in the locker room before the silver medal game against Czechoslovakia and [coach] Billie Moore looking us in the eye and just saying, “Ladies, this will change women’s basketball for the next 25 years. This is more than just a win, this is more than just a medal.”
From playing in the very first women’s Olympic game against Japan, to winning the silver medal, they made history with every basket, every foul, every assist.
Their achievements went well beyond the Olympic Creed:
“The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.”
The women and coaches on that team did more than fight well. They created the spark that led to the flame that set women’s basketball on fire.
I didn’t get to see those trailblazers play, but two years later I attended a basketball camp where Lusia Harris was our guest speaker.
Twenty years later I was thrilled to go to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where we saw the women’s basketball team win the gold medal.
And four years ago, my daughter had the chance to meet Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.
Whenever the Olympic Games resume, there will be athletes who inspire other athletes as well as their fans long after the competition.
Nancy Lieberman with my daughter Lauren in 2017
Read more
An Oral History of the First U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team, Huffpost
1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Broke Ground for Future Players, Hartford Courant
Games of the XXIst Olympiad – 1976, USA Basketball
1976 Women’s Olympic Basketball Team
Cindy Brogdon
Nancy Dunkle
Lusia Harris
Pat Head (Pat Summit)
Charlotte Lewis
Nancy Lieberman
Gail Marquis
Ann Meyers
Mary Anne O’Connor
Patricia Robers
Sue Roicewisz
Juliene Simpson
Head Coach: Billie Jean Moore
Assistant Coach: Sue Gunter
Manager: Jeanne Rowlands
Athletic Trainer: Gail Weldon
Source: USA Basketball