Brittney Griner, former Russian captive and current Olympian, celebrates historic prisoner swap
The WNBA star in Paris for the Olympics issued a joyful statement after news of the exchange spread.
August 02 2024 1:44 PM
Brittney Griner is a decorated basketball player who plays for the WNBA and has also played in Russia's UMMC Yekaterinburg. As of 2022, Griner was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a seven-time all-star player. Griner started her career early, and was named the nation's #1 high school women's player in 2009. That year she also began to play for the Phoenix Mercury All-American team. Griner then came out as lesbian publicly in 2013. She said she had previously been bullied for her sexuality. In 2016 she won her first Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics. In 2021 she won a second gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On May 8, 2015, Brittney Griner and fellow basketball star Glory Johnson married. The two divorced in June 2016 but had twins together. Griner proposed to Cherelle Watson in 2018. The pair were later married.