Brittney Griner is ‘over the moon’ about Americans returning home in prisoner swap

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Brittney Griner knows all too well the emotions surrounding a prisoner exchange. On Thursday evening, she said she was “over the moon” that her compatriots were coming home from Russia.

“A great day. It’s a great day. It’s a great day,” Griner said after the Americans beat Belgium 87-74 to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics. “We’ll talk about it later. But right now, we’re overjoyed for our families. Any day that the Americans come home is a victory. It’s a victory.”

The two-time 2022 Olympic gold medalist underwent a high-profile prisoner swap with Russia after being sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling.

So Griner was delighted to learn that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, each convicted of espionage charges the U.S. government has said were unfounded, were returning home.

Griner didn’t reveal how she learned about the prisoner exchange, but said she was “definitely emotional” when she heard the news.

“I’m sure it’ll be even more emotional later on,” Griner said. “Yeah. I’m just happy. Like it’s a big victory. A huge victory.”

Griner returned to the U.S. in December 2022. Now, 19 months later, she is playing for a national team that has won its 57th consecutive Olympic Games. Griner scored seven points to assist the Americans proceed their quest for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Since returning to America, Griner has been energetic in helping other Americans held hostage in foreign countries. She has worked with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign created in 2022 by relations of American hostages and wrongfully detained abroad.

She also spoke with President Joe Biden twice, including once in April, to maintain prisoners “front and center.”

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Griner has also had to regulate to life in the U.S. and is still working on it.

“I know they have an amazing group of people who will help them in any way they and their families need,” Griner said of the resources that shall be available to Gershkovich and Whelan. “And I’m glad I was able to go through this program and get back to my daily life.”

These Olympics are her first time abroad since her ordeal in Russia. On the train ride from London together with her U.S. teammates, Griner felt uneasy as she sat in her seat. It was her first train ride since her departure to a Russian prison.

“I felt good walking up to the train,” Griner told The Associated Press that day. “When I sat down and looked out the window, I thought, ‘Shit, the last time I was here, I was going to prison.’ The anxiety started to build. That’s when I realized I was good, there were no bars. I was going to gold.”

Griner turned on Netflix to clear her head during her usual commute together with her U.S. teammates to the Olympics in Paris.

“Everything was fine,” she said.

That does not imply, nevertheless, that her coach and teammates won’t be maintaining a tally of Griner.

Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve said they were overjoyed for the families once they heard the news, knowing the men had undergone “just a terrible, terrible time” without their family members at home. Reeve’s thoughts immediately went to Griner, knowing how blissful she was.

After the game, Reeve spent a while with Griner in the locker room.

“It’s a great day because she knows what it was like for her,” Reeve said. “And now knowing and actually visualizing them going through that experience, she seemed OK. But that’s Brittney. She always seems OK. … But we’ll definitely keep checking in on her.”