American basketball veteran Lisa Leslie has found a new
way to get under Australian skins after wearing all four of her
Olympic gold medals on the podium following victory over the
Opals.
The fact that the last three golds were won in finals against
Australia was not lost on the Opals in the wake of their
painful 92-65 defeat in Beijing last night.
Almost as soon as the match was over Leslie was seen donning
the three previous Olympic gold medals won in 1996, 2000 and
2004.
Told to put them under her jacket when she was on the podium,
Leslie swiftly brought them back out as soon as she was
handed her fourth gold.
Leslie has had a long-standing rivalry with Opals star Lauren
Jackson since the famous hair extension pulling incident at
the Sydney 2000 Games.
And post-match flaunting of medals didn't sit too well with
the Opals.
"There was a lot of confidence there, wasn't there," Opals
guard Kristi Harrower said.
"As soon as they lined us up to get our medals, that was the
first thing anybody noticed, the three gold medals she
already had around her neck.
"We were all like `what's that for?' and said a few things in
Australian language that I won't make here, but we couldn't
believe it."
An American journalist told AAP Leslie did it to have a photo
taken with her daughter, but it hardly needed to be done
courtside with the eyes of the world, and perhaps more
specifically the Australians, on her.
Leslie's talent and standing in the game is unquestioned, but
she has not been universally popular with fans, even in her
homeland.
As Lena Williams wrote in the New York Times back in 2003:
"Her popularity is not universal. She is perceived by some
fans and some WNBA peers as surly, aloof and self-absorbed --
a reputation that players mention only privately.
"She has had physical confrontations with opponents and,
despite her accomplishments, she has never been the top
vote-getter in the fans' balloting for the All-Star Game."
Harrower said: "She's a different person. Lauren (Jackson)
would probably say the same thing." After Jackson pulled out
Leslie's long hair extension in Sydney eight years ago, the
American said: "I told her she could have the hair; I'll take
the gold."
It sparked one of the great rivalries in the women's game
between two dominant figures and two of the world's best
players.
Leslie, a proven winner, gets under the Australians' skin.
Asked if she'd be having a beer with Leslie, Harrower
replied: "No. I won't be doing that. At all."
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