Opals captain Tess Madgen has announced her retirement from basketball after bronze medal win at Paris Olympics

After the greatest individual honour of her career, an Opals star has announced her retirement from basketball, confident that the future for the Australian team is “super bright”.

Departing Opals captain Tess Madgen declared the future “super bright” for the Australian women’s team and predicted it would not be short of candidates for her successor after announcing her retirement from basketball.

After leading the Opals to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games last month, Madgen officially signed off from both international basketball and the WNBL with an emotional social media post farewelling the game.

The Opals’ spiritual leader, 34-year-old Madgen said she could not think of a better way to end her career than with an Olympic medal she would hold “most dear” from her playing days in the green and gold.

Madgen pushed through the pain of what she described as unhappy knees to lead the team in Paris and said the opportunity to captain the Opals had been the greatest honour of her career.

“I was 99 per cent certain that I was going to retire after the Olympics and it was a lot easier to retire after having a successful campaign, so I am definitely glad it ended that way, not only for myself, but for the Opals team,” Madgen told this masthead.

“We definitely did all the work and deserved that medal and I obviously wish it was a couple of shades lighter, but super proud and could not think of a better way to end my career for sure.

Tess Madgen has announced her retirement from basketball. Picture: Adam Head

“I won a silver medal at the World Cup in 2018 and a bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup, which was also very special.

“But I think there is no bigger accolade than becoming an Olympian and to have a medal – you don’t play for medals – but it definitely kind of solidifies all the achievements that I have had and it’s definitely the thing I will hold most dear from my basketball career.

“(To captain the Opals) is definitely the greatest individual honour I have ever hoped for, I don’t think I ever set out in my career thinking that was a possibility.”

Madgen’s retirement announcement came just days after the Opals were confirmed as the No. 2 ranked nation in the world behind the United States in the latest FIBA world rankings.

It was another sign that left Madgen confident the future of the team was in good hands.

While the team will likely face a period of transition with a number of stars from the Paris team in their mid-30s – or 43 in the case of Lauren Jackson – before the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Madgen predicted a bright future for the next generation.

“I think (the future) is super bright. This group has done a really, really good job in leaving the team in a really great place,” Madgen said.

Tess Madgen led the Opals to bronze at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Paul Ellis/AFP

“I’m not sure what anyone else plans to do, I think they will see how they go in the WNBL and then decide, but I think we have done a really great job of leaving it in a good place.

“We are No. 2 in the world again now, which is amazing, and I was definitely happy to see that before I retired as well.

“I think this group has made its own mark on that Opals’ legacy and I know through the likes of Jade Melbourne, Ezi Magbegor, Alanna Smith, Steph Talbot, Izzy Borlase, we have still got a lot of players that can go to another Olympics – if not five more – and I can’t wait to see how they shape the Opals legacy.

“Everyone is an amazing person on that team and they all have different strengths, so I can’t wait to see what they do with it now.”

While hesitant to single out any one player, Madgen said there would not be a shortage of strong candidates to replace her as Opals captain.

“I am not going to put any names out there. I think there are many people that could do it,” Madgen said.

“Depending on what Sami (Whitcomb) and Steph (Talbot) decide to do, they are the other members of the leadership group, either one of them would make a great captain.

“Ezi Magbegor has great leadership qualities, Jade Melbourne would definitely be a future captain of the Opals and she is already a great leader at such a young age.

“I really can’t wait and I will always be there to support them for whatever they need.”

Tess Madgen said it was the greatest individual honour of her career to captain the Opals. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Madgen’s career was a story of persistence with the South Australian-born guard having to wait until the age of 28 before she broke into her first World Cup team with the Opals after sitting on the fringe.

The dual Olympian won a silver at the 2018 World Cup in Spain, bronze at the 2022 World Cup in Sydney and another bronze in the 2023 Asia Cup in Sydney before her first Olympic medal this year.

“I had wanted to play for the Opals since I watched my former coach Sandy Brondello, Trish Fallon, Lauren Jackson, Kristi Harrower, that whole team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney,” said Madgen, who was on the Sydney Flames’ roster in the WNBL.

“I was fortunate enough to make my first Opals’ team in 2018, but even then, I never thought I would become the captain.

“It took me a long time to make an Opals team and I think that through all my adversities, my injuries, being a fringe player, it gave me all the resources and skills and tools I needed to be a leader and then a captain.

“I think empathy is one of my strongest attributes as a leader and I could not have been given all that empathy if it wasn’t for all the adversity that I had faced.”

Tess Magden predicts the list of candidates to succeed her as captain won’t be short. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Madgen admitted there were times when she doubted if her body would let her get to the Paris Games.

“It was definitely a challenge …. both of my knees aren’t very happy,” Madgen said.

“There were times I thought there was no way I could do it, but I was filled with so much confidence from the Opals medical staff and my team at the VIS as well that I could do it.

“I had a really good management plan around me, I wasn’t able to train as much as I would like into the lead-up to the Games, but Sandy and the medical staff really reassured me that when the time is right, I will be ready and firing to go and I think I definitely proved that at the Olympics when I was needed – and needed to play well – I was able to do my job.

“At the time, it was very frustrating, but I’m definitely glad I stuck it out …. I am glad that people kept me patient and kept the bigger picture in sight and after we won that bronze medal Sandy said ‘I told you’.

“I couldn’t have done it without them and a huge thank you to all of those that helped me get there.”

Madgen hopes to stay involved in basketball, mentoring the next generation of hoopsters or in sports administration.

Originally published as Opals captain Tess Madgen has announced her retirement from basketball after bronze medal win at Paris Olympics