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Dawn Staley joining First Lady Jill Biden at opening ceremony for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
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- Dawn Staley joining First Lady Jill Biden at opening ceremony for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley will join First Lady Jill Biden as part of the presidential delegation at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Friday.
The White House announced in a press release that Biden will lead the seven-person group, ranging from political representatives to former Olympic athletes.
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Besides Staley, the group includes the U.S. Ambassador to the French Republic, Sen. Chris Coons, Sen. Alex Padilla, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Casey Wasserman of LA28 Olympic & the Paralympic Games and three-time Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano.
Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, will lead the delegation at the closing ceremony.
On Sunday, following the news that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, Staley applauded Biden's work and saluted his support of Harris.
Dawn Staley's Olympic history
Staley's participation comes 20 years after Staley was the U.S. flag bearer at the 2004 Olympics in Greece, which was the final year she competed as an athlete. Staley played in three Olympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
Athens, GREECE: Dawn Staley, a two-time Olympic gold medallist in women's basketball, leads the US delegation with the Stars & Stripes flag during the opening ceremony of the XXVIII Olympic Games 13 August 2004 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. AFP PHOTO / Jacques DEMARTHON (Photo credit should read JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP via Getty Images)
Staley coached the women's national team in the Tokyo Olympics, where she guided the U.S. to a seventh-straight Olympic gold medal.
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Staley's former player and now WNBA star A'ja Wilson will compete for gold in her second Olympic Games. Former Gamecocks forward Laeticia Amihere will play for Canada.
DAWN'S JERSEY: South Carolina's Dawn Staley back home in Philadelphia to celebrate Olympic jersey release
On July 9, Staley was part of the USA Basketball 50th anniversary reception dinner in Las Vegas , joining past Olympians for both men's and women's basketball.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley joining Jill Biden at opening ceremony of 2024 Paris Olympics
