Diana Taurasi aims to play at the Paris Olympics

Diana Taurasi said immediately after winning her fifth Olympic gold medal in Tokyo that she could go for a record sixth place finish in Paris.

It’s still on his mind 17 months from the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“It’s something that’s on my radar,” Taurasi told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday after the first day of a USA Basketball training camp in Minnesota. “I’m still competitive, still motivated, still want to play, still love being part of USA Basketball.”

Taurasi will be 42 by the time of the Paris Games, but said if she was healthy enough she would like to try.

“If the opportunity arises to play and be a part of it, it’s something I’ve always been very proud of,” said Taurasi, who shares the record five gold medals with Sue Bird. “When you get to my age at this point in my career, you just try to win every day. Right now it’s a good opportunity to be part of this team going forward, we’ll see what happens. will happen.

She said she would have played at the World Cup last year in Australia, but had a quadruple strain that kept her out of the tail end of the WNBA season.

“I got hurt a little bit before. I had a good chat with coach (Cheryl) Reeve and (Jim) Tooley. I felt like I didn’t play basketball enough to be there and help” , Taurasi said, “That’s the most important thing with USA Basketball is being able to help the team win.”

Taurasi is an unrestricted free agent, although she is expected to return to Phoenix where she has spent her entire career since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2003.

“Phoenix still has things to sort out,” said the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer.

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