Bkb: Leslie four medal flaunting rubs Oplas wrong way

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2008
Bkb: Leslie four medal flaunting rubs Oplas wrong way

By James Dampney

BEIJING, Aug 24 AAP - American basketball veteran Lisa Leslie has found a new way to
get under Australian skins after wearing all four of her Olympic gold medals on the podium
following victory over the Opals.

The fact that the last three golds were won in finals against Australia was not lost
on the Opals in the wake of their painful 92-65 defeat in Beijing last night.

Almost as soon as the match was over Leslie was seen donning the three previous Olympic
gold medals won in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Told to put them under her jacket when she was on the podium, Leslie swiftly brought
them back out as soon as she was handed her fourth gold.

Leslie has had a long-standing rivalry with Opals star Lauren Jackson since the famous
hair extension pulling incident at the Sydney 2000 Games.

And post-match flaunting of medals didn't sit too well with the Opals.

"There was a lot of confidence there, wasn't there," Opals guard Kristi Harrower said.

"As soon as they lined us up to get our medals, that was the first thing anybody noticed,
the three gold medals she already had around her neck.

"We were all like `what's that for?' and said a few things in Australian language that
I won't make here, but we couldn't believe it."

An American journalist told AAP Leslie did it to have a photo taken with her daughter,
but it hardly needed to be done courtside with the eyes of the world, and perhaps more
specifically the Australians, on her.

Leslie's talent and standing in the game is unquestioned, but she has not been universally
popular with fans, even in her homeland.

As Lena Williams wrote in the New York Times back in 2003: "Her popularity is not universal.

She is perceived by some fans and some WNBA peers as surly, aloof and self-absorbed -
a reputation that players mention only privately.

"She has had physical confrontations with opponents and, despite her accomplishments,
she has never been the top vote-getter in the fans' balloting for the All-Star Game."

Harrower said: "She's a different person. Lauren (Jackson) would probably say the same thing."

After Jackson pulled out Leslie's long hair extension in Sydney eigh years ago, the
American said: "I told her she could have the hair; I'll take the gold."

It sparked one of the great rivalries in the women's game between two dominant figures
and two of the world's best players.

Leslie, a proven winner, gets under the Australians' skin.

Asked if she'd be having a beer with Leslie, Harrower replied: "No. I won't be doing
that. At all."

AAP jd/nh

KEYWORD: OLY08 BKBW AUST LESLIE

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.