How Cayla George's Olympic medal dream became reality

Cayla George is an Olympic medallist and her legacy is now cemented among the Australian Opals legends that came before her.

Image credit: FIBA

With just minutes left to play in the Opals’ bronze medal game against Belgium at the Paris Olympics last month, Cayla George felt emotions she had never experienced in her illustrious career. She couldn’t help but feel – for better or worse, rightly or wrongly - that her entire career was coming down to the result of those final, frantic few minutes as Australia closed in on a bronze medal.

“It was just such an emotion; it felt like my entire career was flashing before my eyes, so it was a really interesting experience,” she said. “Usually, I can kind of contain my emotions and get a job done, but that day was just so unique.

“That day I woke up and was emotional; I was crying, I was crying an hour and a half before the game, I was crying in the anthem, and I was like just snap out of it and in my mind I was trying to stay so focused but the magnitude of the moment and thinking ‘was it my last time at an Olympics?’ - I haven't made any decisions regarding that - I just was thinking, is this my last time playing for Australia? Is this my last Olympics? Is this my only chance to win a medal?”

An Olympic medal was the final box left to tick for George, who has conquered just about everything there is to do in basketball across the globe; represented Australia at every major event multiple times, including winning World Cup medals, WNBL championships and league MVP honours, a WNBA championship, playing in the EuroLeague and winning a title in Hungary, and prior to the Olympics, added a championship while playing in Taiwan.

After all those years of blood, sweat and tears, that elusive Olympic medal was finally within reach. When that buzzer sounded and the Opals had staved off a valiant Belgium squad, George’s final basketball childhood dream had come true. She could finally add ‘Olympic medallist’ to her resume, joining Opals legends she grew up idolising.

“To do it with the girls that have been in the program for a very long time, all the girls of course, but in particular the ones that have been through the ringer, the ups and downs, because we've had some extreme highs and some really shitty lows, so it's really nice just to reward ourselves and reward all those young Aussies that aspire to be an Opal one day,” she said. “I really hope we inspired them by seeing us on the on the podium because I had photos of the Opals on the podium on my school books; that Athens team winning the silver medal, so I think about that a lot, and now there's photos of me doing that at the Olympics.”

Image credit: FIBA

The Opals’ road to bronze was far from easy or straightforward, but as we’ve come to learn about these Opals is that when things get tough they stay together, united as one. The Opals’ tournament-opening loss against Nigeria would have derailed many teams’ chances, just from the sheer pressure and magnitude of what they faced, knowing they could no longer afford a loss in the remaining group games.

But as they did two years ago in Sydney at the World Cup, the team bounced back after an eerily similar loss to France in their first game of the tournament. Once again, the Opals rose to the occasion and instead of splintering or pointing fingers, they grew closer. George admits things were ‘intense’ after the Nigeria loss, but that the goal always remained the same.

“It was just like, ‘oh, shit, what have we done?’”

“We all still had each other's back, we didn't turn on each other, we all still very much knew that the goal was the same. Tess [Madgen] and our leadership group, Sami [Whitcomb] and Steph [Talbot], really made sure that we were on the same page; we haven't lost focus of what we're achieving here, the goal remains the same,” she said. “That was the biggest thing; the goal remains the same. So, we just really had to pick each other up and that's what we're so good at as Australians, and the Opals in particular, the sisterhood runs so deep and it's so strong.

“I'm just so stoked that we were able to have a story and have our little moment at the start and then come back from it and what a story to tell, what a testimony to come through all those ebbs and flows of emotions to be able to win a medal.”

George has represented Australia countless times throughout her career, and she has a gift for producing in the biggest moments or when the Opals need to get things moving.

Her 11 points (3/4 from deep) against Canada were timely and monstrous in the scheme of what that game meant for the Opals’ medal chances. She scored six points in the final few minutes in the extraordinary win over France in front of a record 27,000+ strong crowd, highlighted by a monster pull up jump shot with 20 seconds to go. Against Serbia, she delivered once again, scoring 18 points in 24 minutes as the Opals marched onto the semifinals.

It's what Cayla George does; hit big shots.

When faced with those moments, she keeps things simple.

“I’m just playing, I’m just so focused and the fact that I've been able to do it for the Opals in my career, just blows my mind,” she said. “I'm just so overwhelmed with passion for the team, so to be able to do that and help us Aussies in those big moments is even more special.

“My tear ducts are sweating up just thinking about it, and to have such a big impact on an amazing team that's got such a huge legacy in this nation and around the world, is something that I could never have even dreamed of.”

Speaking of having an impact, Ezi Magbegor’s 30-point and 13-rebound performance in the bronze medal game is the stuff of legends. Having seen Magbegor’s development up close as long-time teammates, George was watching in awe.

“Ezi is an absolute legend,” George said. “She’s always a pillar of consistency for us; super solid defensively, changes shots and does great things, but that last game, it was just unreal to watch and to be a part of it.

“To just be with her, watching her, celebrating with her, it was just a phenomenal, phenomenal performance. I was so stoked for her to finish the tournament off like that and thank goodness, because, phew, Ezi was just Ezi. She got it done and helped us get over the line in a massive way.

“I think Tess [Madgen] had a humongous game, Sami [Whitcomb] had a great game, Alanna [Smith] had a great tournament, and [Steph] Talbot does so many things that aren’t on the stats; her hustle, her defence, she does so much stuff and obviously she had to drink a cup of concrete before every game because she’s tough as nails.

“She had to go through a lot; walking in a boot in the middle of games just to make sure her foot was right. With how injured she was and battling through her pain, just an absolute bloody legend and how she took off for that big block at the end, just pivotal moments!”

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To be able to accomplish lifelong goals alongside some of your best friends is a dream come true in itself, and it’s almost poetic that George and Madgen – two great friends – were finally able to step on the podium together in what was Madgen’s final game as an Opal. With Madgen since announcing her retirement, George noted just how integral she was in getting the Opals back to where they belong; on the Olympic podium.

“I’ve played with Tess and known Tess since U14 Eastern Mavericks, Adelaide Hills, shout out Mount Barker Rec Centre!” she said. “Tess is a phenomenal human first and foremost, and she's an incredible basketball player.

“You ask all us Opals, you ask anyone that's been around her and they'll all say the same thing; she makes everyone around her better. She's one of my best friends - I don't think that's uncommon knowledge – and I just want to give her all of her flowers because she has gone through a lot. She has had a lot of things said in the media about her, and she's just had to push through and ignore it all and she's come up with the goods time and time again, and at these Olympics in particular, to cap off an incredible career where she's been able to do and achieve a lot of things that were probably on her bucket list in her career.

“It's not lost on me at all how much she took on and people just don't understand the magnitude of the effect that she's had in such a positive way on this program and pushed it for the better.”

Image credit: FIBA

Having focused so much effort and energy on working towards accomplishing her dream of winning an Olympic medal, George has revelled in an unusual feeling of being relaxed and at peace since returning home. Since the win, George has spent time travelling through Queensland with her family; husband Kailou, daughter Pearl and their dogs, which has allowed her the time to take stock of everything.

“It's probably the first time in my career that I’ve felt so at peace with the accomplishments,” she said. “I think an Olympic medal was probably the last thing on my list of goals I had as a teenager, because all my other goals I've pretty much ticked off - and I don't say that lightly, that's something that's beyond my wildest dreams to be able to say that.

“I'm super relaxed in my mind, which is weird because usually as an athlete, I don’t want to speak for all athletes, but for me, it's like one big event finishes, then the pressure for the next thing starts; there's always been pressure. For this last month since the Games, I've felt no pressure, absolutely none, and it's been such a weird feeling, but I've taken it on board, embraced it and really just tried to enjoy it; it's been such a fun time and just really relaxing for my brain and mental state.”

Looking back, it felt like the only option for the Opals was to leave Paris with a medal.

“Honestly, I don't think in my mind I'd embraced the thought of not winning a medal at the Olympics, whatever colour it was,” she said. “It just wasn't an option in my brain, I just couldn't allow that to be the case, we just had to be on the podium.”

And so it came to be.