Ally Wilson prepares to make her Olympic debut

Murray Bridge will watch on with pride next month when Alex “Ally” Wilson makes her debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Wilson will join four other girls in the Gangurrus team for the women’s 3x3 basketball competition.

This will be the first time Australia competes in the 3x3 basketball discipline, after the sport was introduced to the Olympics at Tokyo 2020. 

As a Ngarrindjeri girl growing up in Murray Bridge, Wilson said her dream had always been to make the Olympics for basketball.

“I started playing basketball when I was four or five years old in Murray Bridge and I think when you’re that young and growing up, you think that playing for Australia is the best thing that you can achieve,” she said.

She had to drive from Murray Bridge to Adelaide for training nearly every night.

“There’s extra effort you've got to put into it coming from the country in a small town,” she said.

“I’ve felt so much love from not just my family, but everyone in Murray Bridge and in South Australia over the last year.”

The Gangurrus, who won the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup earlier this year, secured a Paris 2024 quota by winning a FIBA 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan in May.

“Going into that tournament, that was the only chance we had to qualify to go to the Olympics, it was do or die for us,” Wilson said.

The other Gangurrus will be captain Anneli Maley, Lauren Mansfield and Marena Whittle.

The team’s members are split between Perth, Adelaide and Bendigo, meaning they don’t often get the chance to train together.

That had been a challenge leading up to the qualifying tournament, and each team member had had to individually hold themselves accountable, Wilson said.

“The beauty of the four of us playing together for the last couple of years and going to a lot of those major international tournaments is that we already have that chemistry and know how each other play,” she said.

The Gangurrus will take on other eight other countries, including Canada, Germany, China, the USA, Azerbaijan, Spain and France.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge … playing against some of the best athletes in the world,” Wilson said.

After the Olympics, Wilson hoped to take a well deserved holiday before getting back into the game.

It was recently announced that she had signed on with the WNBL’s Perth Lynx, to play alongside Maley, for the 2024-25 season.

“I’m looking forward to it … the lifestyle there, being by the beach and all … that sort of thing I haven’t got here in Bendigo for a long time,” she said.

The 3x3 competition schedule will start on July 30, with the Gangurrus’ first match up against Canada.

• More information: olympics.com.

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