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Tina Thompson
- 2004 Olympic gold medalist
- Won two international medals while competing for the U.S.
- Five-time WNBA All-Star for the Houston Comets, leading the team to four WNBA titles
- No. 1 overall draft pick in the 1997 WNBA draft—the first draftee in the history of the league
- Averaged .500 field goal percentage, .773 free throw percentage, 5 rebounds per game, 11 total assists and 14.1 points per game with a total of 113 points in her first appearance at the Olympic Games in Athens
- Her older brother, Tommy Thompson, Jr., got her started in basketball when she was nine and she followed him to the local recreation center to play
- One of her first times playing basketball, Thompson had a group of boys toss her ball out the door at a local rec center and tell her to go play with dolls
- Has several game-day superstitions, including taking a shower after shootaround, taking a 45-minute nap, wearing lipstick to play every game and dressing in a specific order
- Her proudest achievements are graduating from college and being the top pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft
- Played professionally in Italy and South Korea
- Has aspirations to pursue a law degree in the future
- Attended Morningside High School in Los Angeles, the same high school as teammate Lisa Leslie, where she was named 1993 California AAA Player of the Year
- Was also a volleyball player in high school
- Is heavily involved in her community in Los Angeles, where she works with several charities aimed at helping underprivileged children, including Brother Hood Crusade and Kristina’s Castle
After being selected to compete in the 1998 World Championship for Team USA, but was forced to sit the tournament out when she injured her knee during training and the alternate for the 2000 USA team, Thompson finally got her gold medal. “Well, I started playing USA Basketball in 1993, 1994,” said Thompson after the gold medal game against Australia. “This has been a long time coming. At that time there was nothing other than USA Basketball. There was no WNBA and the only other option was playing overseas. So USA Basketball was the ultimate goal for women basketball players. There was nothing else. There was no other high. The ultimate prize was the gold medal in the Olympic Games. For over a decade now this was something I wanted to be a part of and wanted to do. And it finally happened for me. I guess this was all the emotions from all those trials and all those training sessions and going overseas and spending months together and Colorado Springs. It was just kind of an overflow of all those things and just finally reaching the goal of winning a gold medal.”
On how it felt to win her Olympic gold medal: “I am more than happy, I am elated. This was a long time coming for me so I am soooo excited that it finally happened. Emotions just took over - it's okay to cry now...it's all over and we accomplish our goals.”
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Height: 6-2
Born: Feb. 10, 1975
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Sport: Basketball
Event: Forward
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