Brittney Griner has probably survived the worst time of her life. The 32-year-old has been back in her home country, the USA, for a few days. After months in Russian captivity, she is now back to what she is exceptionally good at: playing basketball.
“It feels so good to be home!” With these words, the American basketball player Brittney Griner begins her first public statement after her release from a Russian prison. The 32-year-old uses her detailed Instagram post – the first since February of this year – to thank her for sharing her fate and to clarify her goals for the future.
The past ten months have been a fight “in every respect” that she could not have won without people like her wife Cherelle Griner, her family, those responsible for the WNBA basketball league, her legal counsel and the administration of US President Joe Biden. “President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are determined to bring Paul Whelan and every other American home, too,” Griner said. “I will use my platform to help you in any way I can.” Every family deserves to be completed again.
In the aftermath of the spectacular prisoner swap, in which the United States handed the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout over to Moscow, criticism was voiced in the United States that only the basketball player was released and not Paul Whelan, for example. The latter was arrested in Russia in 2018 and subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged espionage.
Griner returned to the United States last Friday and underwent a medical check-up at a military hospital. US officials said the two-time Olympic gold medalist was “in a very good mood” when she arrived and appeared to be in good health. However, recordings showed that Griner had changed, at least on the outside: she had to cut off her dreadlocks or have them cut off during her incarceration.
At the end of her Instagram post, the athlete makes one thing clear from her point of view: “I intend to play for Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA this season.” When the time comes and she returns to the basketball court, she wants to say thank you personally to all those who have stood up for her and thought of her. The basketball league’s regular season begins May 19, 2023. It was announced earlier this week that Griner was completing her first light workout since returning home.
In addition to her career in the USA, the 32-year-old also played basketball in Russia for years. She was caught at a Moscow airport in February this year with a small amount of hashish oil in her luggage and taken into custody. In August, a court sentenced her to nine years in prison for illegal drug possession and attempted smuggling.
The detention and the legal handling of Griner had triggered international outrage. As an openly gay black woman, she was already particularly vulnerable in a country where authorities are hostile to the LGBTQ community. The pressure on the US government to get them out of Russian captivity was correspondingly great. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine a few days after their arrest made an agreement between the two governments much more complicated.