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Dawn Staley, Kamilla Cardoso place interesting wager on USA vs. Brazil Women's Soccer gold medal match

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly•08/10/24•

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Dawn Staley
(© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley has been out and about supporting the United States throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics. She is on hand for Team USA’s gold medal match against Brazil on Saturday, cheering from the stands.

Staley has a little extra riding on the outcome of the USA vs. Brazil match as she made a friendly wager with her former player Kamilla Cardoso. Staley revealed the bet, which involves wearing jerseys on Twitter Saturday morning.

Cardoso came over from Brazil to play basketball in the United States. She started her college career at Syracuse, before transferring to play her final three seasons for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks.

Cardoso won a pair of national titles during her time in Columbia, including this past season as South Carolina was a perfect 38-0, capping off the perfect year with a win over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the national title game.

Cardoso was named the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament after scoring 15 points with 17 rebounds against the Hawkeyes.

As for Dawn Staley, she has been at South Carolina since 2008 and has built the Gamecocks into a powerhouse.

South Carolina has won three national titles under Staley and has also reached the Final 4 six times.

Suni Lee, Dawn Staley share heart-warming moment after Lee claims bronze medal

Earlier at the Paris Olympics, as the Americans waited for their scores to come in during the All-Around gymnastics finals, South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley was waiting as well.

She wanted to see Suni Lee earn a medal.

Staley tweeted as much, snagging a quick gif of Lee and posting it with the caption: “SUNI went to work! Come on and medal her!! #ParisOlympics2024”

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Lee landed an excellent floor routine, one that saw her score vault to the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the fourth and final rotation. The score would hold up well enough to earn Lee a bronze medal, coming three years after she had won gold in the All-Around at Tokyo.

But once Lee had a chance to settle down and check her phone, she had another surprise waiting. She saw Dawn Staley’s tweet. Suffice to say she was more than a little pumped. Check it out below.

Dawn Staley, of course, wasn’t done there, though. She wanted Lee to know she was feeling the exact same way.

“That’s me (fangirling) with you!” Staley wrote on Twitter in a response. “Super proud of you! Love that medal smile!! Keep me great, SUNI!!!”

With her bronze medal in the All-Around competition, Lee became the first American to medal in the All-Around competition at two separate Olympic games. She was joined in that feat just moments later by her teammate, Simone Biles.

Biles, the 2016 All-Around champion in Rio, claimed the gold in Paris. That came on the heels of a highly successful team showing.