Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Penn on February 21, 2025 , Loss , 75, to, 88
Final
Men's Basketball
at Penn
75
88
Looking Back to Crawford Palmer’s 2000 Olympic Silver Medal With France
8/10/2024 10:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Peak Performance
Crawford Palmer '93 will never forget the 2000 Olympics, when as a member of France, his team advanced to the gold medal game following a semifinal win over Australia.
"My best sports memory was in the locker room before the coaches, athletic trainers or media arrived," he said. "The 12 of us (players), who no one expected anything from, were going to at least get silver.
"I still get goosebumps thinking about it," Palmer continued. "I've told the story hundreds of times and it's the same feeling every time."
Palmer began his college career at Duke, playing from 1988-91, then transferred to Dartmouth. After sitting out a season due to transfer rules, he played for the Big Green in 1992-93. Following Dartmouth, he went to France to play professionally.
All the while, Palmer was considering playing for the French National Team. For that to happen, three years needed to pass after submission of paperwork for a naturalized player — foreign-born players with bloodline connection with the country they want to represent — to be eligible for international competition.
"My paperwork wasn't turned in until late August of 1997," Palmer. "In 1998, they thought the three-year rule was going to be taken away, so I played a few friendly games on the national team. But the rule remained."
Palmer is grateful the 2000 Summer Olympics were in Australia because that three-year window ended just days before the games begun.
"Australia is in the southern hemisphere, so it was in September," said Palmer. "If it had been in July, I wouldn't have qualified. There was about a three-day difference between me being able to play in the Olympics or not. And I'm very thankful for that."
Several years of professional basketball couldn't fully prepare Palmer for the Olympics.
"I had been a pro for seven years," said Palmer. "I had already played in crazy gyms where you could get things thrown at your or fans are waiting for you at your bus after the game. But the Olympics were different."
France arrived in Australia three weeks early.
"We had a long preparation," said Palmer. "We had training camp and they let us bring our families, so we weren't all by ourselves. Families got to know each other."
Ahead of the Olympics, the team went to Perth, Australia for a tournament.
"We got our butts kicked by the Serbs; we got our butts kicked by the Italians," said Palmer. "We weren't supposed to do much at the Olympics. Basketball in France at the time was old school pre-NBA. There might have been one guy from France who tried out for the Knicks or the Nets in the 80s, but it wasn't yet a phenomenon. We all knew each other, and we knew the guys who played for all the other European teams."
When reflecting upon the Olympic experience, Palmer called Australia a "surreal place."
"The Pacific is much different," he said. "The earth feels small, even though Australia is humongous."
However, Palmer recounts hardly seeing Sydney. Very few from his team went to the opening ceremony because France was set to play New Zealand the next morning.
"You're walking around a stadium and standing up for four hours, so I think we did well not to go," said Palmer. "We beat New Zealand (76-50), and then got crushed by Lithuania (81-63). We beat China by a miracle; I had to guard Yao Ming, and this was when he was catching full court alley-oop dunks and running up and down at 7-feet-6-inches."
France outscored China 51-34 in the second half to pull it out, 82-70. After that, France lost to Italy and the United States.
"If we had lost that China game, we were done," said Palmer. "So we snuck in as the eighth team in the quarterfinals."
Playing Team USA for the first time was as Palmer said, "a very strange experience."
"That's the famous game with Vince Carter's dunk on Fred Weis," said Palmer. "I told the guys before the game in the in the bus, don't get dunked on in this game because you'll be on DVDs for the next 50 years. Little did we know that the internet would take over."
Despite finishing 2-3 in its group, France went on to beat Canada in the quarterfinals (68-63) and Australia in the semifinals (76-52) to reach the gold medal game.
Against the U.S. in the final, France had some strong moments to put a scare into the Red, White and Blue.
"We were getting beat by 20 in the second quarter and came back to make it a game," said Palmer. "I think we were down by four with four minutes left and made Rudy Tomjanovich take his first timeout of the tournament. They made a little burst and had a couple putback dunks and beat us by 10 or 12.
"Winning would have been the cherry on top, but it was a lot of fun."
The Olympic experience wasn't only fun, but it was also a pinnacle moment for Palmer's basketball career that included winning a national championship with Duke in 1991. His two years at Dartmouth were also some of the best years of his life.
Palmer had to sit out his first year at Dartmouth before becoming eligible in 1992-93.
"Arguably my favorite year of college was the year I didn't play, just being a student," he said. "I worked safety and security. I worked in the cafeteria. I worked at EBAs (Everything But Anchovies pizza restaurant) and loved it. I took great classes at Dartmouth, had great professors and met some great people, who are some of my best friends to this day."
There was a moment at Duke, which told Palmer he needed a change, ultimately leading him to Hanover, New Hampshire.
"I remember in the 1991 ACC Tournament, I played a few minutes at the end of the game," said Palmer. "And it was the first time I was thinking I hope coach doesn't put me in because I don't want to play."
That really got Palmer thinking, and led him to Dartmouth, where most of Palmer's family went, including his grandfather, father and brother.
For the Big Green, Palmer played for head coach Dave Faucher, someone who impacted Palmer's life at Dartmouth and beyond.
"My whole life was changed by the fact that one small semi pro team in the south of France needed a big guy, and the coach happened to have a friend who was the friend of Coach Faucher," said Palmer. "He called him, and I was available and willing to get on a plane.
"Then your whole life goes a different way."
Palmer's life led him to professional success as a player in France, then post-retirement, working as general manager and currently director of sport with Limoges CSP in Ligue Nationale de Baset Pro A.
In between was an unparalleled Olympic memory that will last a lifetime.
"My best sports memory was in the locker room before the coaches, athletic trainers or media arrived," he said. "The 12 of us (players), who no one expected anything from, were going to at least get silver.
"I still get goosebumps thinking about it," Palmer continued. "I've told the story hundreds of times and it's the same feeling every time."
Palmer began his college career at Duke, playing from 1988-91, then transferred to Dartmouth. After sitting out a season due to transfer rules, he played for the Big Green in 1992-93. Following Dartmouth, he went to France to play professionally.
All the while, Palmer was considering playing for the French National Team. For that to happen, three years needed to pass after submission of paperwork for a naturalized player — foreign-born players with bloodline connection with the country they want to represent — to be eligible for international competition.
"My paperwork wasn't turned in until late August of 1997," Palmer. "In 1998, they thought the three-year rule was going to be taken away, so I played a few friendly games on the national team. But the rule remained."
Palmer is grateful the 2000 Summer Olympics were in Australia because that three-year window ended just days before the games begun.
"Australia is in the southern hemisphere, so it was in September," said Palmer. "If it had been in July, I wouldn't have qualified. There was about a three-day difference between me being able to play in the Olympics or not. And I'm very thankful for that."
Several years of professional basketball couldn't fully prepare Palmer for the Olympics.
"I had been a pro for seven years," said Palmer. "I had already played in crazy gyms where you could get things thrown at your or fans are waiting for you at your bus after the game. But the Olympics were different."
France arrived in Australia three weeks early.
"We had a long preparation," said Palmer. "We had training camp and they let us bring our families, so we weren't all by ourselves. Families got to know each other."
Ahead of the Olympics, the team went to Perth, Australia for a tournament.
"We got our butts kicked by the Serbs; we got our butts kicked by the Italians," said Palmer. "We weren't supposed to do much at the Olympics. Basketball in France at the time was old school pre-NBA. There might have been one guy from France who tried out for the Knicks or the Nets in the 80s, but it wasn't yet a phenomenon. We all knew each other, and we knew the guys who played for all the other European teams."
When reflecting upon the Olympic experience, Palmer called Australia a "surreal place."
"The Pacific is much different," he said. "The earth feels small, even though Australia is humongous."
However, Palmer recounts hardly seeing Sydney. Very few from his team went to the opening ceremony because France was set to play New Zealand the next morning.
"You're walking around a stadium and standing up for four hours, so I think we did well not to go," said Palmer. "We beat New Zealand (76-50), and then got crushed by Lithuania (81-63). We beat China by a miracle; I had to guard Yao Ming, and this was when he was catching full court alley-oop dunks and running up and down at 7-feet-6-inches."
France outscored China 51-34 in the second half to pull it out, 82-70. After that, France lost to Italy and the United States.
"If we had lost that China game, we were done," said Palmer. "So we snuck in as the eighth team in the quarterfinals."
Playing Team USA for the first time was as Palmer said, "a very strange experience."
"That's the famous game with Vince Carter's dunk on Fred Weis," said Palmer. "I told the guys before the game in the in the bus, don't get dunked on in this game because you'll be on DVDs for the next 50 years. Little did we know that the internet would take over."
Despite finishing 2-3 in its group, France went on to beat Canada in the quarterfinals (68-63) and Australia in the semifinals (76-52) to reach the gold medal game.
Against the U.S. in the final, France had some strong moments to put a scare into the Red, White and Blue.
"We were getting beat by 20 in the second quarter and came back to make it a game," said Palmer. "I think we were down by four with four minutes left and made Rudy Tomjanovich take his first timeout of the tournament. They made a little burst and had a couple putback dunks and beat us by 10 or 12.
"Winning would have been the cherry on top, but it was a lot of fun."
The Olympic experience wasn't only fun, but it was also a pinnacle moment for Palmer's basketball career that included winning a national championship with Duke in 1991. His two years at Dartmouth were also some of the best years of his life.
Palmer had to sit out his first year at Dartmouth before becoming eligible in 1992-93.
"Arguably my favorite year of college was the year I didn't play, just being a student," he said. "I worked safety and security. I worked in the cafeteria. I worked at EBAs (Everything But Anchovies pizza restaurant) and loved it. I took great classes at Dartmouth, had great professors and met some great people, who are some of my best friends to this day."
There was a moment at Duke, which told Palmer he needed a change, ultimately leading him to Hanover, New Hampshire.
"I remember in the 1991 ACC Tournament, I played a few minutes at the end of the game," said Palmer. "And it was the first time I was thinking I hope coach doesn't put me in because I don't want to play."
That really got Palmer thinking, and led him to Dartmouth, where most of Palmer's family went, including his grandfather, father and brother.
For the Big Green, Palmer played for head coach Dave Faucher, someone who impacted Palmer's life at Dartmouth and beyond.
"My whole life was changed by the fact that one small semi pro team in the south of France needed a big guy, and the coach happened to have a friend who was the friend of Coach Faucher," said Palmer. "He called him, and I was available and willing to get on a plane.
"Then your whole life goes a different way."
Palmer's life led him to professional success as a player in France, then post-retirement, working as general manager and currently director of sport with Limoges CSP in Ligue Nationale de Baset Pro A.
In between was an unparalleled Olympic memory that will last a lifetime.
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