Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist.
In 2000, Sports Illustrated magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". She played for, and graduated from, the University of Georgia.
The US Olympic Committee appointed Edwards as chef de mission for the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2010, Edwards was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2013, she was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2021, Edwards published an autobiographical audio book, Black Gold, about her basketball career, with a focus on her Olympic experiences.
Born in Cairo, Georgia, Edwards attended Cairo High School, where she was a four-year starter. In her junior and senior years, the Syrupmakers were 58–3. She scored 1,982 points in her high school career, and was honored as the Georgia High School Player of the Year in 1982.
Edwards began her college career for the Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball at the University of Georgia where she was a two time All-American. She was the starting point guard for the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, helping lead them to the Final Four in 1983 and 1985. Edwards played in her first Olympic Games in 1984 as a collegian, and won her first of four gold medals as the youngest member of the team. Her college jersey number (#5) was retired, making her one of only three Lady Bulldog players given that honor. She earned her degree in leisure studies in 1990.
Edwards was the star player and head coach for the Atlanta Glory of the American Basketball League (ABL). She played in the ABL inaugural game between the Glory and the San Jose Lasers, won by the Lasers 78–70. She was traded to the Philadelphia Rage in 1998.
During the 2003 WNBA draft, at the urging of Minnesota Lynx head coach Suzie McConnell Serio, the Lynx selected Edwards even though she was 38 years old. Edwards and Serio were teammates on the women's basketball team during the Summer Olympics of 1988 and 1992.
Edwards played for the Lynx during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Afterwards, her contract expired and she became a free agent. No other WNBA team offered her a contract for the 2005 season.
In December 2006, Edwards returned to Lynx as an assistant coach.
Edwards served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In 2011, Edwards was named as assistant coach of the Tulsa Shock. She would later become the interim head coach after Nolan Richardson resigned on July 9, 2011.
On March 4, 2014, Edwards was hired by the Atlanta Dream as the assistant coach.
After Edwards graduated, she played abroad for nine seasons splitting time between Vicenza- Italy, Nagoya- Japan, Spain (Dorna Godella), and France (Tarbes and Valenciennes). During this time, she also continued to appear in international competition.
After the 1994 season, she stayed in the United States to train for her fourth Olympic appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Edwards was selected to take the competitors' oath at the Opening Ceremonies in Atlanta (the opening ceremonies took place on her 32nd birthday). She was named the 1996 Sportswoman of the Year (in the team category) by the Women's Sports Foundation.
She competed for the United States in international competition a total of 19 times. Her teams won 14 gold medals.
In 1984, the USA sent its National team to the 1984 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan, for pre-Olympic practice. The team easily beat each of the eight teams they played, winning by an average of just under 50 points per game. Edwards averaged 5.5 points per game.
Edwards is the first female basketball player to have played in five Olympics. She is jointly (with Australian Andrew Gaze) the third basketball player to compete at five Olympics along with Puerto Rican Teófilo Cruz and Brazilian Oscar Schmidt.
She also holds the distinction of being the 'youngest gold medalist in women's basketball' (age 20 in 1984) and the oldest gold medalist in women's basketball (age 36 in 2000).