An exhausted Lauren Jackson fought back tears after she led the Australian Opals to a first-up win over Great Britain to start their Olympic Games campaign on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But it wasn’t a stirring win which prompted to the superstar to admit she was “beat”. Jackson was emotionally and physically drained after a hectic 48 hours and “the greatest honour" of her life, carrying the Australian flag into the opening ceremony.
Somehow she harnessed whatever energy she had left to top score for the Opals to ensure they didn't suffer an embarrassing loss to world No. 49 Great Britain.
In the end the Opals beat the hosts - who are coached by former Australian coach Tom Maher - 74-58 and they have Jackson to thank.
“I’m beat. I had no idea [it would be like this],” Jackson said.
“When [the flag bearer] was announced it was a whirlwind of emotions and then seeing my mum and dad ... I’m not a crier ... sorry.
“But the smallest things were just making me, you know, cry.
“That along with the happiness and joy ... in 2000 when I marched behind Andrew Gaze I never, ever, ever thought I would be in his position.”
Despite running on empty, Jackson was still at her fiery best.
She had to be separated from Great Britain forward Julie Page in the last quarter after a hard foul led to a heated exchange.
It’s the competitive instinct and fire the Opals hope will propel them to their first gold medal and finally ending the United States’ stranglehold on the top prize.
But before they can move forward, Jackson needs sleep.
“I’m just ready to go to bed to be honest, it’s all a bit of a blur,” Jackson said.
“I’m just happy we won, that was going to be a huge test for us ... we’ve had an emotional 48 hours so we just need to get our legs under us.”
Australian coach Carrie Graf was wary of overloading her linchpin. Jackson didn’t attend the post-match press conference as she started a recovery process and the 31-year-old hopes to lay low until the Opals next match against France on Monday.
With Jackson exhausted, the Opals did well to hold off a fired-up home side.
They appeared to be suffering an opening ceremony hangover, but Great Britain's deplorable 30 per cent success rate from the field saved them.
The silver-medal winners from the past three Olympics were disjointed and sloppy. The players described it as ugly and a relief and veteran guard Kristi Harrower said: “we’ve got a lot of improving to do before we can start thinking about medals.”
Giant 203cm Olympic rookie Elizabeth Cambage was suffering from nerves in her debut and had limited impact.
But Jackson and Graf backed the future star to bounce back in the team's second game against France on Monday and be more dominant as the tournament progresses.
Jackson stamped her authority on the game late in the first quarter and was the clear standout with 15 points as she led the Opals to a 39-26 half-time lead.
She finished with 18 points and showed why she has been one of the best players in the world for the past decade.
Laura Hodges and Kathleen MacLeod were the only Opals not to score in the 16 point win as Graf rotated her players to test everyone in the Olympic arena.
Their gold-medal rivals, the United States, secured an easy win in their first game, crushing Croatia 81-56.
