Now the American women's basketball team has also played their Olympic Games premiere. And the first group stage match, against Japan, could not have started better.
The Americans won convincingly with 102-76 after a relatively easy match.
The USA men's team is always star-studded, but this year the women's team is also filled with profiles. One of them is the highly publicized Brittney Griner.
For ten months in 2022, she was imprisoned in Russia after being convicted of drug possession. Her imprisonment was highly publicized as she became a pawn in a geopolitical game between the USA and Russia. She was exchanged for the US-imprisoned arms dealer Viktor But, also known as the "Merchant of Death".
Griner made her comeback on the basketball court in May last year.
Besides Griner, big stars like Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart are part of the team. The shooting star Caitlin Clark did not get a spot in the Olympic squad, which created headlines.
The American women's basketball team has won the last seven Olympic Games.
