As a 16-year-old volunteer at the Sydney Olympic Games, Laura Hodges wiped the court of sweat during breaks, and in so doing got up close to her idols, the Opals players. Not long after that, she would become one.
Not that they noticed her, but it was at the Sydney 2000 Olympics that Laura Hodges – then Summerton – was getting up close to the Opals players.
She was an inspired 16-year-old volunteer who was wiping the players’ sweat from the court during games at the Sydney Superdrome.
By then, she was already on a basketball scholarship at the AIS and had driving aspirations to be an Opal.
Two years later, Hodges was a member of the Opals team for the FIBA World Cup and then the 2004 Olympics – and is now a four-time Olympian, finishing in 2016 in Rio.
Have you ever held or touched an Olympic Games medal?
Every sport fan on this Earth knows their priceless value. They innately understand the skill and devout work possessed within each one.
Laura Hodges is the owner of two Olympic Silver medals, one Olympic Bronze medal, and arguably greater than either of these, one World Cup gold medal.
“Standing on the podium and receiving all three Olympic medals is an unforgettable feeling and I will never take them for granted because it’s so difficult to get one of them and I’m so lucky to have three,” she reflects.
At just 20 and at her first Olympics, Hodges averaged an important contribution of 6.3ppg, and when arguably playing at her best in Beijing four years later, she returned an average of 8ppg.
She was also on the podium in Brazil in 2006 when the Opals climbed the rarest of world summits to stunningly win the FIBA World Cup gold medal.
There’s been both a sense of adventure and wisdom in the way Hodges has explored the world through basketball.
Having been to the AIS in Canberra, she returned home to play in the WNBL and captain the Adelaide Lightning, then was contracted to play in Italy, France and with the Connecticut Suns in the WNBA.
