Geno Auriemma, the US women’s basketball coach who has led his team to a perfect start in Rio, has said he and his team will never apologize for their excellence, even though “we live in that Trumpian era where it’s OK to be sexist and degrade people”.
The US team has endured some criticism for being too dominant after heavy wins against Senegal, Spain and Serbia, with some suggesting such one-sided contests are bad for the women’s game. But Auriemma, the UConn head coach who has led USA since 2009, rejected that argument, and suggested that the lack of discussion about the dominance of the US men’s team revealed a double standard.
Auriemma said: “We live in that Trumpian era where it’s OK to be sexist and degrade people that are good, just because they’re the opposite sex.
“We are what we are,” he said. “We’re never going to apologize for being that good. We’re never going to apologize for setting a standard that other people aspire to achieve. We got a guy in the pool with a USA swim cap on who nobody can beat. And if he wasn’t in swimming, there would be a lot of other guys with gold medals.
He said of his team: “These are Olympians. They’re supposed to play at a high level. They’re professionals, they’re supposed to put on a show, they’re supposed to entertain. So, what are we supposed to do? Just go out there and win by a little? We’re not bad for women’s basketball, just like I say at UConn, we’re not bad for women’s basketball. What’s bad for women’s basketball is when nobody’s great, because then you could say, “You know what? I don’t think anybody really knows how to play this game.”
USA are top of Pool B with three wins from three. They play Canada on Friday.
“I think people will say that there are some really good teams out here and when you see them play each other, they’re great games,” Auriemma said. “Serbia was up 20 the other day and lost to Canada. These are great games. We just happen to be somewhere else right now. That’s OK. I don’t mind.”
