Venus to the Hoop: A Gold Medal Year in Women's Basketball

One of the truly inspiring sagas of the 1996 Olympics was the dominating performance of America's other Dream Team, the women's hoopsters. Led by charismatic coach Tara VanDerveer--she drove her players hard, but no harder than she drove herself--a group of 12 divergent personalities turned into an immensely appealing and cohesive unit. Between its formation and the Olympics, the team won all 51 games it played, then drove through the competition in Atlanta to win the gold medal. They also garnered some powerful intangibles--recognition, respect, and the affection of the fans--that continue to remain more elusive to women's squads than men's. Journalist Sara Corbett was given exclusive access to the team for the duration. Her vivid narrative resonates with the tension and drama of competition in the spotlight, and nicely captures the pressures the team had to shoulder in its media-hyped role.