Olympic Legends - Lauren Jackson

LONDON (Olympics) - When Lauren Jackson runs onto the floor for Australia at next year's London Games, it will be the fourth time she has competed at an Olympics.

In 2000, when the games were hosted in Sydney in front of her home fans, Jackson made her Olympic debut at the age of 19.

A 1.95m center, she would go on to capture the first of three silver medals.

Having appeared at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women as a 17-year-old, everyone knew the Opals had a player that was going to be a dominant force in the game so it was no surprise when Jackson averaged 15.9 points and 8.4 rebounds at the 2000 Games.

In the gold medal game against the United States, Jackson had 20 points and 13 rebounds but it wasn't nearly enough as the Americans rolled to a 76-54 victory.

Four years later, Jackson averaged 22.9 points and 10 rebounds as Australia again shone at the Olympics in Greece, finishing with a silver medal.

That year, the Americans beat the Opals, 74-63, in the title game.

In 2006, Jackson and Australia at long last reached the top of the podium, only not at an Olympics but at the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil.

After coming from behind in the Semi-Finals to down Brazil, Australia encountered not the USA but the team that had upset the Americans in the last four, Russia, in the gold medal game.

It was no contest as Jackson and Co rolled to a 91-74 triumph.

Jackson again had a major impact on the tournament, averaging more than 21 points and almost nine rebounds.

Hopes were high for the Australians two years later in Beijing that Olympic gold would finally be theirs but it wasn't to be as a determined United States won a battle of unbeatens and thrashed the Opals, 92-65, in the title game.

Jackson left the Wukesong Arena having averaged a 17.2 points and 8.6 boards.

It was the hardest defeat of her career.

That setback at the 2008 Olympics Games was not the end of Jackson, however, because in 2010, her fierce play led the Seattle Storm to the WNBA title.

Despite a very disappointing FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic that followed when Jackson averaged just 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds and the Opals finished fifth, Australia remain one of the powerhouses in the international game.

There is no question about the stature of Jackson in the international game.

Three times she has been the MVP of Australia's WNBL and three times the MVP of the WNBA.

Back in her native Albury on Saturday, October 22, Jackson will be honored in a big way.

The Albury Sports Stadium is to be renamed the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

FIBA