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Venus to the Hoop: A Gold Medal Year in Women's Basketball
They played for the gold. They played for the glory. And they played for the future of women athletes everywhere.
Few of the millions of viewers who witnessed the joyous celebration of the victorious American women's basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics could know the intense human drama, the sweat and anxieties, the hopes and the rivalries, that led up to that rapturous outpouring of emotion. Put down as male wannabes, criticized for being either too feminine or not feminine enough, female athletes had struggled for years both to define themselves and to prove their inherent worth beyond the pampered world of the macho male athlete. But at the Atlanta Olympics, all that would change. The female athlete--strong, and beautiful because she was strong--would dominate the world stage.
In the spring of 1995, twelve extraordinary basketball players were chosen to represent the United States in the yearlong march to the 1996 Olympics. For Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and their teammates, winning the gold medal was only one of many goals. Around them swirled the dreams of the millions of young girls who played organized basketball, the hopes of the fans who sent the team an average of 125 pounds of fan mail each month, the multimillion-dollar bets of Nike, Champion, and other corporate sponsors, the promise of a new women's professional league, and not least, the hopes of female athletes across the country finally to gain the respect accorded male athletes.
These women on whom so much pressure rested included a runway model (who also happened to be one of the few women players able to dunk), a forward who barely survived a car accident that left her in a coma, a collegiate sensation struggling to live up to her rep and her huge marketing contract from Reebok, a superstar known as "the female Michael Jordan," and a controversial, unrelenting coach. Nine of the women were black; three were white. Some were married, some single; some outspoken, some painfully shy. Some were rivals, some fast friends. How they came together, both on and off the court, is the subject of this wonderful celebration of the female athlete.
Few of the millions of viewers who witnessed the joyous celebration of the victorious American women's basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics could know the intense human drama, the sweat and anxieties, the hopes and the rivalries, that led up to that rapturous outpouring of emotion. Put down as male wannabes, criticized for being either too feminine or not feminine enough, female athletes had struggled for years both to define themselves and to prove their inherent worth beyond the pampered world of the macho male athlete. But at the Atlanta Olympics, all that would change. The female athlete--strong, and beautiful because she was strong--would dominate the world stage.
In the spring of 1995, twelve extraordinary basketball players were chosen to represent the United States in the yearlong march to the 1996 Olympics. For Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and their teammates, winning the gold medal was only one of many goals. Around them swirled the dreams of the millions of young girls who played organized basketball, the hopes of the fans who sent the team an average of 125 pounds of fan mail each month, the multimillion-dollar bets of Nike, Champion, and other corporate sponsors, the promise of a new women's professional league, and not least, the hopes of female athletes across the country finally to gain the respect accorded male athletes.
These women on whom so much pressure rested included a runway model (who also happened to be one of the few women players able to dunk), a forward who barely survived a car accident that left her in a coma, a collegiate sensation struggling to live up to her rep and her huge marketing contract from Reebok, a superstar known as "the female Michael Jordan," and a controversial, unrelenting coach. Nine of the women were black; three were white. Some were married, some single; some outspoken, some painfully shy. Some were rivals, some fast friends. How they came together, both on and off the court, is the subject of this wonderful celebration of the female athlete.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1997
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About the author
Sara Corbett
19 books37 followersSara Corbett, a longtime contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, is the co-author of "A House in the Sky" with Amanda Lindhout. Corbett met Lindhout only a few months after she was released from 460 days spent as a hostage in Somalia. The two collaborated closely for three years on the book. Corbett lives in Portland, Maine, where she co-founded a non-profit writing center for kids called The Telling Room. "A House in the Sky" has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and will be published in September, 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 23, 2024
This is the best book I have read this year and easily the best sports book I have ever read. I found a copy after Maitreyi Anantharaman plugged it and now I get why. An endlessly readable, insightful, prescient and sometimes emotional book. Fun for WBB fans and a surprisingly timely read during the 2024 season.
May 18, 2019
This book changed my perspective on sports in middle school. As an avid basketball player myself, I found this book in our school library. I had never read much non-fiction up to this point. But I read this book and became a huge fan of these women. I started following the WNBA and began to advocate for equality in girls and women sports. This book has had a huge impact on me.
July 21, 2025
I have a collection of books on defunct sports leagues. This book is about the The Gold Medal Team but also about how they dealt with the new American Basketball League and the new Women National Basketball League. Each player shares her story as the year progresses. Future stars of both leagues are featured in Sara's example book. It's a favorite on mine!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews