Olympics-Basketball-Griner's gold medal extra special after Russian prison

By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber

PARIS (Reuters) - On the highest step of the Olympic podium, U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner wept, tears trickling down her face as her country's national anthem serenaded her for a gold medal she could not have imagined winning while in a Russian prison.

Griner, who had played professionally in Russia in addition to playing in the WNBA, was detained February 2022 in a Moscow airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner, who had a medical marijuana prescription in the United States, spent nearly 10 months in detention.

"I didn't think I would be here," the 33-year-old said after the United States beat France 67-66 in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

"And then to be here and winning gold for my country, representing when my country fought for me so hard to even be standing here. This gold medal is going to hold a special place amongst the other two I was fortunate to win."

Griner, who was also on the gold medal-winning teams at the Rio and Tokyo Games, was released in December 2022 in a high-profile prisoner exchange involving arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death", and returned to the WNBA for the 2023 season.

U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve praised Griner for how well she had handled the Olympics, her first trip abroad since her detention in Russia.

"When you see BG around the team, her outward, she's okay," Reeve said. "You know on the inside, there's a lot going on there.

"She was so thankful to be here ... I think we all should just keep checking on her because it's unfathomable what she went through."

Griner's teammate A'ja Wilson described her "a warrior, a trooper".

"This is a huge gold for BG," Wilson. "We all know what she was going through ... It's so good just to see her happy."

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by)