Paige Crozon, from Humboldt, Sask. chases a loose ball with China's Jiyuan Wan during a 3x3 basketball game at the Summer Olympics on July 31 in Paris.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Canada’s 3x3 women’s basketball team came painfully close to the podium at the Paris Olympics.
Emphasis on painful.
After 10 gritty games, countless bumps and bruises, and three stitches, the Canadians finished fourth in their Olympic debut.
“It feels like you lose the medal two times. You lose in the semis and then you lose in the bronze,” said Paige Crozon of Humboldt, Sask. “There’s no way to sugar coat it. It felt terrible. We came here with a podium finish in mind, so it was heartbreaking to come up short.”
The Canadians came into the Games fresh off a first-place finish at the Edmonton stop of the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series, and three of the team’s four players were ranked among the very best in the world.
The team started 3-1 in round-robin play before suffering back-to-back overtime losses at the hands of Spain and the United States. A decisive win over Australia in a play-in tilt secured Canada’s spot in the semi-finals.
There, they battled with eventual gold medal winners Germany, dropping the spirited matchup 17-16 on a last-second shot. A 16-13 loss to the Americans in the bronze medal game followed.
Competition at the Olympics was the fiercest the Canadians had ever experienced, said guard Kacie Bosch, who received three stitches after having her eyebrow split open midway through the play-in game against Australia.
“We thought that every team there deserved to be there,” she said. “We knew every game was gonna be a grind and a battle, which it was. If you look at any of the scores, all of them were super close. There were so many OT games, so many games that came down to the last shot.”
Elite sports requires a level of commitment and emotional investment that can open athletes up to big hurt, said Katherine Plouffe.
“We give everything, our blood, sweat and tears for a goal and a dream. And not that that’s the epitome of who we are as people, but as athletes and competitors, that’s what we’ve dreamt about and envisioned for five years,” she said, adding that coming fourth “definitely hurts.”
“But it’s so worth it to know that despite going through that, despite putting our heart on the line and giving everything, we’re still here, we’re still standing and we can get through this. It’s just a game at the end of the day.”
It’s a game the team has poured every ounce of themselves into.
After years with Canada’s senior women’s basketball team, Katherine Plouffe and her twin sister, Michelle, decided in 2019 to build Canada’s 3x3 program from the ground up.
They self-funded their training, travel and tournaments, recruited teammates and worked toward their goal: playing 3x3 at the Olympics.
The aim of getting to Paris was to create more opportunities for women and girls to play basketball in Canada, Michelle Plouffe said.
What happens next isn’t entirely clear.
“We hope that there is lots of conversation, lots of dialogue, and lots of figuring out with athletes and staff and beyond about what really works and what can be beneficial to all,” she said. “Because I think it can be a total win-win for a federation, for players and for teams just to have options and to have those relationships and to really benefit everyone.”
It’s only been three years since 3x3 basketball made its debut in Tokyo, Crozon noted, and there’s still a lot of room for growth across the game.
“I really think 3x3 is in the infancy stages,” she said. “It’s been so amazing to see the evolution just since we’ve played in the last three years. So I really think the sport is going to take off and open up so many more avenues for basketball players.”
The Plouffes, Crozon and Bosch know what’s next on their schedule, though – more basketball.
The team will be back on the court on Aug. 17 when the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series hits Saskatoon.
Returning to the road means the squad hasn’t made any decisions about their long-term future.
“We’re still on the world tour, the women’s series this summer,” Michelle Plouffe said. “And then we’ll see what happens.”
Follow the latest news and highlights from the Paris Olympic Games