Who is Brittney Griner, the American basketball player released in Russia in exchange for an arms dealer

Russia released American basketball player Brittney Griner Thursday in a dramatic prisoner swap in which the United States freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, US officials said.

The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieves an important goal for President Joe Biden, but it has come at great cost and has left an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.

The deal, the second swap with Russia in eight months, resulted in the release of the top American detained abroad.

Griner is a two-time Olympic medalist and his incarceration on drug charges has brought unprecedented attention to the wrongfully arrested population.

The authorization to free the arms dealer nicknamed “the dealer of death” reveals the intense pressure exerted on the US government to secure Griner’s release, particularly following the recent termination of his criminal case and transfer to a penal colony.

But who is the star now released by Ruisa? Brittney Griner is 2.06 meters tall and weighs 93 kilos. If she Griner hadn’t entered the WNBA at age 22, she would have followed in her father’s footsteps and become a police officer.

Brittney Griner is a 31-year-old player from Houston who has been interested in sports since she was a child, playing volleyball and basketball. Her name went viral on YouTube thanks to several videos in which she was seen making spectacular dunks, which eventually led her to meet Shaquille O’Neal.

She joined Baylor University in 2009 and had a glittering four-year career as one of the NCAA greats, being crowned the national champion in 2011-12. As a college player, she averaged 22.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game. Finally, she would be selected by the Phoenix Mercury as the first selection of the 2013 draft in the WNBA.

During nine seasons with Phoenix, Griner became one of the most dominant centers in the WNBA, ranking as the two-time scoring champion and blocking leader in eight seasons.

She received eight All-Star Game nominations, six WNBA All-Team nominations, and was also the league’s top defensive player twice. She averages 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 254 games played. In 2014 she won her only championship ring, being one of the most important figures for her team in the postseason.

It became customary for Griner to play European basketball during the WNBA off-season, playing for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2012 and winning a total of four women’s EuroLeague trophies. In addition to distinguishing herself at the club level, she has also done so as a player for the USA team, adding two gold medals at the Olympic Games (2016 and 2020).