Edwards, Teresa

▪ American athlete and coach

born July 19, 1964, Cairo, Georgia, U.S.

      American basketball player, who was the most decorated player in the history of the U.S. national team. From her point-guard position, Edwards guided the U.S. national team to gold medals in 14 of 18 major international tournaments between 1981 and 2000, including four Olympic championships and two world championships. She holds the distinction of being both the youngest and the oldest basketball player to win an Olympic gold medal.

      Edwards claimed that as a girl she was drawn to basketball because it was the one game in which she could trounce the boys. As a student at the University of Georgia (1983–86), the 5-foot 11-inch (1.8-metre) Edwards played guard for the women's basketball team and averaged 15.5 points and 5.1 assists per game. She helped the team win three Southeastern Conference titles and achieve a record of 116 wins to 17 losses. In 1984, while still in college, Edwards played on the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team, winning her first Olympic gold medal. After graduating from college, she played professional basketball in Italy, Japan, Spain, and France. In 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000, Edwards was again selected for the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team; the team won gold medals in 1988, 1996, and 2000 and a bronze medal in 1992. The American Basketball League (ABL), a professional league for women in the United States, began play in 1996 and allowed Edwards her first chance to play professionally in her home country. When the ABL folded in 1999, Edwards went into semiretirement. In 2003 she signed with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), with whom she played for two seasons.

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