On the highest step of the Olympic podium, US basketball player Brittney Griner wept, tears trickling down her face as her country’s national anthem serenaded her for a gold medal she could not have imagined winning while in a Russian prison.

IMAGE: A teary-eyed Brittney Griner and Alyssa Thomas of the United States with bronze medallist Jade Melbourne of Australia on the podium at the Olympics women’s basketball victory ceremony at Bercy…