Tess Madgen

Guard Tess Madgen nearly had to give basketball away two years before she captained the Opals to an Olympic bronze medal in Paris.

A serious knee injury sustained during the 2022 World Cup in Sydney kept her out of all but one game in the 2022-23 WNBL season and almost convinced her to hang up the sneakers on a career that had taken her all around the world.

“I was honestly ready to retire from basketball,” she said. “I was 70 per cent ready, just because I couldn’t really see a light coming out of the tunnel from my injury.”

But thanks to a lot of hard work and some expert help from medical and conditioning staff at the Victorian Institute of Sport, Tess got back to her best and ended her career on her terms.

As a young kid Tess was inspired by her older brother Ben, a former Sydney Kings and South East Melbourne Phoenix player, and began her basketball career with South Australian club the Eastern Mavericks. From Mount Barker, Tess earned selection in multiple junior Australian national championships.

The 180cm guard was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in 2008 to play with the Institute’s Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) squad in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Tess first represented Australia in 2008 as part of a gold-winning junior team in the Oceania World Qualification series. She then made her Opals debut three years later in 2011, when she was named to a senior Australian side for the Oceania Olympic qualification series against New Zealand.

After two strong seasons in Canberra, she made the move south to join the Bendigo Spirit. Whilst in Victoria Tess earned most valuable player honours in both her two seasons with the Spirit, after displaying a consistent three-point stroke and leadership for her side.

She enjoyed two stints overseas for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) side Phoenix Mercury in America and for Polish side Pszczółka AZS UMCS Lublin. Tess's sole year with the Mercury was bookended by four seasons with the WNBL side Melbourne Boomers, where she settled after spells with the AIS and Bendigo.

Once returned from Poland in 2017, she marked a return to Australian domestic basketball with the Townsville Fire. A strong initial season in northeast Queensland earned Tess selection in the Opals 2018 FIBA World Cup squad, a critical piece in an Australian outfit earning second place in the competition.

In the WNBL 2020 season Tess averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 41.1 per cent from three-point territory to land All-WNBL Second Team honours.

She made her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in 2021. Australia lost their opening match to Belgium, then suffered a critical two-point loss in their second game against China, going on to win the last match comfortably against Puerto Rico.

Australia finished third in their group resulting in a challenging quarter-final match against the USA, which they lost 55-79, ending their Olympic campaign in eighth place.

Playing in all four games, Tess received 42 minutes of playing time at the tournament and scored 10 points.

Ahead of the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Sydney, Tess was named captain of the Opals. The Opals won bronze in the tournament, defeating Canada in the play-off for third after defending champions the United States beat China in the gold-medal match.

Her knee improved quicker than anticipated after the World Cup, allowing her to be included in the Opals team for the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup. Once again, the tournament was played in Sydney and, once again, Australia finished third, with China beating Japan in the final. But Tess was among the stars for the Opals, judged player of the match in a clash with New Zealand, with 14 points and five assists.

Tess again starred as the Opals nailed down a place in Paris by defeating Germany 85-52 at a FIBA qualifying tournament in Belém, Brazil, in early 2024. She confidently dropped threes to put her side in a commanding position at the halftime break, leading by 30 points.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Tess and the Opals recovered from a first up loss to a physical Nigeria team (75-62) to beat Canada (70-65) and the host nation France (79-72), which meant they automatically progressed to the knockout rounds.

A big win over Serbia in the quarter-finals (85-67) put them in a semis showdown against the USA, with the Americans' victory (85-64) sending the Opals to the bronze medal match against Belgium.

The Opals won the match 85-81 for the team's first Olympic medal since London 2012.

Tess was lights out from three in the tournament, making 60% of her threes on 15 attempts, and scored a game-high 18 points against France to take Australia into the quarter-finals.

With a bronze medal in hand, three weeks after the Olympics Tess Madgen announced her retirement.