By DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Brittney Griner settled into her seat on the Eurostar train and put on her headphones to watch “Vikings” — one of her favorite TV shows — during the 90-minute trip to France from London.
It was an escape to help her forget her last time on a train. That occurred in 2022 when she was headed to a Russian prison after being sentenced to nine years in jail for drug possession and smuggling.
“Walking up to the train I was fine,” Griner told The Associated Press. “When I sat down and looked out the window I was like, ‘Damn, last time I was here I was on my way to prison.’ Anxiety started to heighten up. Then I realized I was good, there were no bars. I’m going to win gold.”
Griner turned to Netflix to calm her mind during a simple commute with her U.S. teammates to the Paris Olympics.
“Everything was cool,” she said.
The United States women’s National Basketball Team pose for photographs at St Pancras Station as they take the Eurostar train to Paris, ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in London, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Doug Feinberg)
Griner and her U.S. teammates were commuters on Thursday, traveling to the Olympics via train. The Associated Press tagged along for the trip.
The U.S. had special accommodations, just like the men’s team did for its train travel on Wednesday. The women’s team arrived at the London station an hour before departure, and the group was whisked through passport control.
National team director Briana Weiss collected the passport of each player and coach and put them in a red bag to hold for the rest of the trip. She first collected the passports once the players got off the plane in London, and she gave them back to each member of the traveling party before they got to the train station.
It’s a practice the U.S. has done for years so that no one potentially would lose their passport.
The players then were escorted to a private lounge area before going down to the train.
Following a quick photo op at the Saint Pancras station with a golden basketball, the Americans boarded their private car at the front of the train.
Players used the 90-minute trip to watch movies, have a quick bite to eat or catch a nap. They mostly kept to themselves.
The coaching staff spent the time watching game-video.
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The team was kept away from the public except for a quick few seconds when the players and coaches were heading out of the lounge and going to the train. They exited from their car at the Lille station before everyone else did. As they walked toward the escalator out of the building, some of the passengers held up their phones to take pictures of the players through the windows of the train cars.
When the team got out of the station, the group got into a waiting bus for a trip to the arena for practice. The U.S. was set to head down to Paris on another train after practice was done.
“They wanted to make the travel as easy as possible for us and this was the best way,” U.S. guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “Everything so far has been great. I kind of like trains. My family said they wanted to go to London on one of the off days so I was testing this out for them as well. It seems like a really easy way to travel.”
This was the first time that the Americans had taken a train to arrive to the Olympics. While it was something new for the U.S., Jewell Loyd said it’s a common practice when playing overseas in the winter.
“We do it all the time,” she said. “It’s just an easy way to get around with those teams.”
The U.S. women played an exhibition game in London on Tuesday night against Germany, and the train was the quickest and best option to get to Lille for pool play. The U.S. spent Wednesday sightseeing around London on a double-decker bus.
While the players traveled via train on Thursday, their bags were sent to their Paris hotel Tuesday night after the game against Germany. Over 600 bags belonging to the men’s and women’s teams as well as their guests were driven to Paris in two 26-foot trucks.
The bags would be waiting for the players and their guests when they arrived in their hotel rooms late Thursday night.
An additional truck went to Lille with training supplies and other items needed for practice.
The Americans play Japan in their Olympic opener on Monday night.