South Carolina coach Dawn Staley's 1st day at 2024 Paris Olympics was 'Presidential for me'

Dawn Staley is enjoying the perks of traveling with First Lady Jill Biden.

The South Carolina women’s basketball coach is in Paris for the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics as part of a presidential delegation attending Friday’s opening ceremony .

But before the festivities began, Staley sent out a tweet with photos recapping her journey back to the Olympics. It included a picture of the presidential seal, a photo of Staley standing outside Air Force 2, two custom coins commemorating the presidential delegation and two boxes of candy autographed by President Joe Biden.

“Day 1 was truly an amazing experience,” Staley wrote on her X (formerly Twitter) account . “Candy? Coins? Seals? PJ?  Anyone?  Only it is PRESIDENTIAL for me.”

Along with Staley, the presidential delegation also includes the U.S. Ambassador to the French Republic, Sen. Chris Coons, Sen. Alex Padilla, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Casey Wasserman of LA28 Olympic & the Paralympic Games and three-time Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano.

Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, will lead the delegation at the closing ceremony.

WHAT TO KNOW: When is opening ceremony at Paris Olympics? Start time, where to watch and stream

Staley won gold medals as a player for the Team USA women’s basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. She served as the coach of Team USA when it won a gold medal in women’s basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Staley also was named a United States flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Games.

So when Staley received a tweet in response criticizing her participation in the presidential delegation — “well enjoy Dawn, the US taxpayers are paying for it. Yep, those who are struggling to put food on the table,” an X user named @Thomlf wrote back to Staley’s initial message — Staley countered with how meaningful it is to her to represent the United States at the Olympics again.

“Uuuuhhh my taxes have paid for this one!” she wrote . “And please don’t try to make anyone feel bad…we are representing the red, white and blue with great pride and with the utmost patriotism.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina coach Dawn Staley's 1st day at 2024 Paris Olympics was 'Presidential for me'