- "What's Greater?": Gold captivates three-by-three basketball players
The presence of basketball icon Dirk Nowitzki made Germany's completely astonished 3x3 Olympic champions even happier. Proud and overwhelmed, Svenja Brunckhorst, Sonja Greinacher, Elisa Mevius, and Marie Reichert posed on the winner's podium with the guest star who had passionately cheered for the quartet in the lively stadium on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
"She's the German basketball legend. Our eyes sparkled. We even took a photo with her," Brunckhorst said after the thriller in the final. To celebrate the day, the gold medal winners also jumped with the Dutch 3x3 Olympic winners to the left and right - as the fans from the neighboring country had done at the Euro football championship in Germany.
First Basketball Medal at the Olympics
Completely unexpectedly, the quartet won gold at the Olympics debut. After thousands of spectators and even Nowitzki had disappeared from the historic venue around midnight, the German team was still in the heart of Paris, planning the rest of the evening after the sensational triumph.
Organizing interviews, press conferences, and the upcoming reception at the German house: after winning the first Olympic medal ever, the German Basketball Association (DBB) suddenly had a lot to manage. Brunckhorst, Greinacher, Mevius, and Reichert wore the golden medals around their necks in disbelief.
"Germany has a gold medal," Greinacher said, who decided both the semi-final against Canada (16:15) and the final against Spain (17:16) with her last-minute shots. The team led by Brunckhorst and Greinacher celebrated the qualification in May as if it were a medal - and is now, two and a half months later, actually Olympic champion.
Superstar Nowitzki, who never won an Olympic medal himself, was closely by the side of the quartet. This also delighted 3x3 national coach Samir Suliman, who raved about the former Dallas Mavericks star player after the evening. "Dirk is unbelievable, also for the players. That's out of reach. He's there, and he's high-fived them all. He's the greatest, the greatest, the greatest basketball player of all time in Germany. If he's there live when you become an Olympic champion as a player. What could be bigger?" Suliman said.
"Despite our initial disbelief, we couldn't help but admit that I'm not going to lie, meeting Dirk Nowitzki was an overwhelming experience," Brunckhorst shared. "Even in our excitement, we made sure to thank him sincerely for his support, not wanting to hide our gratitude with false modesty."
