VILLENEUVE D’ASCQ, France — Brittney Griner is acutely aware of the swirling emotions surrounding the prisoner exchange, saying Thursday night she was “crazy” about her fellow Americans returning home from Russia.
“It’s a great day. It’s a great day. It’s a great day,” Griner said after the U.S. women’s team beat Belgium 87-74 to advance to the quarterfinals in Paris. “I’ll tell you more about it later, but right now I’m just happy for my family. Whenever the Americans come home, that’s a win. It’s a win.”
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was part of a high-profile prisoner swap with Russia in 2022 after serving a nine-year sentence for drug possession and smuggling.
So Griner was ecstatic to hear that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan were returning home after being convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. government deemed unfounded.
Griner did not say how he found out about the prisoner exchange, but said he was “definitely moved” to hear the news.
“I’ll be more impressed in a little while,” Griner said. “Yeah, I’m just happy. This is a big win. This is a huge win.”
Griner returned to the United States in December 2022. Now, 19 months later, she is playing for the national team that has won 57 consecutive Olympic gold medals. Griner scored seven points to help the U.S. win its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Since returning to the U.S., Griner has been active in helping other Americans held overseas. She has worked with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed in 2022 by families of American hostages and wrongfully detained overseas.
Update on former Russian prisoner Evan Gershkovich
She has also met twice with President Joe Biden, once in April, to keep detainees “at the forefront of everyone’s minds.”
Griner has also had to readjust to life in America, a process she is still working through.
“I know they have great people there to help them and their families in any way they need,” Griner said of the resources available to Gershkovich and Whelan, “and I’m happy to have gone through that program and been able to get back into daily life again.”
The Olympics are her first abroad since her ordeal in Russia. Traveling with her U.S. teammates on the train from London, Griner felt uneasy as she sat down — her first train ride since her journey to a Russian prison.
“I was OK walking to the train,” Griner told The Associated Press that day. “I sat down and looked out the window and I thought, ‘Damn, last time I was here I went to jail.’ My anxiety started to build. Then I realized I was OK. There were no bars. I knew I was going to get the gold medal.”
Griner watched Netflix to calm down during her commute with her U.S. teammates to the Paris Olympics.
“Everything was going well,” she said.
But that doesn’t mean Griner isn’t being watched by coaches and teammates.
2024 Paris Olympics
U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said she was thrilled for the family when she heard the news, knowing that her players have endured a “really awful time” without their loved ones back home. Her thoughts immediately went to Griner because she knows how happy she is.
Reeve spent time with Griner in the locker room after the game.
“Today’s a great day because we know what it was like for her,” Reeve said, “and now, knowing and actually imagining what it might be like for them to go through that, she seemed OK. But that’s Britney. She always seems OK. … But we’ll definitely be checking in on her.”
