Lauren Jackson to become oldest Olympic basketball player as she prepares for fifth Games

After a relentless lead up to being named in her fifth Olympic team, Lauren Jackson has locked in her ticket to Paris and will bring her whole family along for the journey as the Opals plan for a return to the podium.

LAUREN Jackson says sons Harry and Lennon will travel with her to Paris after she endured unrivalled selection pressure, horrific injury and concerns over family support to book her ticket for a fifth Olympic Games.

Australian basketball Hall of Famer Jackson, 43, had retired again as recently as February after the Paris Olympic qualifiers as she worried about failing to find work-life balance as a single mum and basketball star.

That torrid injury toll across the past decade means she will play Olympic basketball for the first time since 2012, having also recovered from a serious Lisfranc foot fracture and ruptured Achilles since last year.

Jackson will become the oldest Olympic basketball player ever.

Twelve years after Lauren Jackson was an Australian Olympic Flag Bearer and led the Opals to a fourth-consecutive Olympic medal, she's back for more at Paris 2024.

👉 https://t.co/OUO9IOI6VC#AllezAUS | @laurenej15 | @BasketballAuspic.twitter.com/ipAhjbL24v

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 7, 2024

The icon joins seven WNBA stars who did not play in last week’s China exhibition series, but felt the pressure right until her name was called.

“I am 43 … last year I ruptured my Achilles tendon and had the Lisfranc fracture. I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I am today,” she said as the 12-strong Opals team was announced.

“It is so special, the last few months have been very intense. The last week and a half have been the hardest pressure wise I have had as a professional athlete.

“The girls that came to camp put their best foot forward and gave everything to be on this team and I just feel honoured and grateful.”

Jackson eventually made the decision to put her name forward in consultation with her sons and says the support of her family and Basketball Australia made it possible to continue on to a swan-song Olympics.

Here we are

Your Australian basketball teams for the Paris 2024 Olympics

TEAMS: https://t.co/j5PgxnjNZd#WeAreBasketball#allezauspic.twitter.com/QvwYweZpe7

— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) July 7, 2024

Australia’s Boomers and Opals will play the pool rounds in Lille, outside of Paris, but with her sons nearby the burden of travelling without them will be lifted.

“(The boys) are coming. I had to sort that out.

“My parents are getting a lot older so their (the boys’) dad is going to come along as well, and be with (my) mum and dad to help out.

“So I am really thankful he’s coming and that will be huge for me and mum and dad to have that extra support.”

Can Australia win gold?

Jackson is aiming big despite the brilliance of the USA, citing the WNBA heroics of the latest batch of Opals as Ezi Magbegor dominates as a defensive threat for the Seattle Storm.

She believes this team can channel the brilliant offensive performance in two July wins over world No.2 China with the returning WNBA stars.

“Anything is possible on any given day and the way we are playing as a team unit, the way the girls in the WNBA are playing, everything is possible.

“We have a great team, we don’t’ walk away with anything less than a medal but hopefully the gold medal.”

OPALS SQUAD FOR 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS: Lauren Jackson, Isobel Borlase, Ezi Magbegor, Alanna Smith, Sami Whitcomb, Steph Talbot, Bec Allen, Jade Melbourne, Kristy Wallace, Marianna Tolo, Cayla George, Tess Madgen.

Originally published as Lauren Jackson to become oldest Olympic basketball player as she prepares for fifth Games