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Sue Bird Seeks Historic Fifth Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo

TOKYO — Sue Bird says she doesn’t think too often or too much about her Olympic experience. Not with another WNBA title to defend when the season resumes later this summer. Not the sheer, immense, staggering totality of wins, medals and passport stamps. Not the history involved. It happens fast, she says, plus she’s terrible at math. “I can’t even really wrap my head around it,” she says. “Even though it has been 17 years, you blink"—quick pause—“and it’s gone.”

And yet, for all of Bird’s accomplishments—two-time national champion at Connecticut, No. 1 draft pick (Seattle Storm, 2002), four-time WNBA champion, 12-time WNBA all-star—it’s easy to argue that her most impressive work was in her two decades starring for a national team as dominant as anything in sports.