National team Whittle broke into the Australian side as a 20-year-old, following her success at the
1993 World Championship for Junior Women, where she won a
Gold medal. Averaging 10.1 points per contest, the centre added six points and provided a dominant defensive presence under the rim in the gold medal game as Australia defeated Russia 72–54. She was immediately placed on the Opals radar. At that tournament, Whittle played alongside other future Opals stars,
Michelle Brogan,
Kristi Harrower,
Carla Boyd and
Jo Hill. The following year, Whittle was selected to play for the Opals at the
1994 World Championship for Women, held in Australia. The young side finished a respectable 4th and would mark the start of a highly successful era for Whittle and the Opals. Whittle was selected to play for Australia at the
1996 Atlanta Olympics. That team would go on to win a
Bronze medal earning Australia its first ever international basketball medal for either men or women at the senior level. At the
1998 World Championships held in Germany, Whittle would win her second bronze medal. Playing in front of a home crowd at the
Sydney 2000 Olympics, Whittle won a
Silver medal, her second medal at an Olympic Games. At the
2002 World Championship held in China, the Opals and Whittle would win their 4th consecutive medal in international play, claiming another Bronze. Having retired following the 2002 World Championship, Whittle was not considered for selection to represent Australia at the
2004 Olympics in Athens. However, later that year former Opals coach
Tom Maher convinced Whittle to break her retirement. That decision led to the highlight of Whittle's career at the
2006 World Championship held in
Brazil. As
co-captain of the team with
Lauren Jackson, the Opals won the tournament and first ever
Gold medal at an official international event. In a sign of true respect for Whittle, after Jackson accepted the World Championship trophy, she walked down the line of Opals players and handed it to Whittle. Earlier that year, Whittle would also win a gold medal at the
Commonwealth Games, again as co-captain with Lauren Jackson. Following the Opals success at the 2006 World Championship, Whittle retired from international competition, saying, "it's the right time to go" and "it's great to leave the international game on top". Whittle ended her career having played 262 games for the Opals, 5th highest all-time. Her six medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver & 3 Bronze) at official
FIBA tournaments makes Whittle one of Australia's most successful and decorated basketball players at the international level. Whittle has also been referred to as one of the Opals best ever players. Along with her Gold medal win at the 2006 World Championship, Whittle also named the Sydney Olympics as a career event highlight, as well as playing alongside
World Champions Lauren Jackson and
Tully Bevilaqua. In November 2013, Whittle was inducted into the Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame, joining other recipients that included golfer
Greg Norman and five-time World 500cc champion
Mick Doohan. Also in November 2013,
Kristi Harrower named the 12 best Opals players she had played with over 20 years and named Whittle in that team. When Whittle retired in 2009, her 295 career games ranked 11th all-time. Whittle's three years at the
Australian Institute of Sport was as a scholarship holder. Despite missing several seasons while playing in Europe, Whittle holds the WNBL all-time records for
blocked shots (673) and defensive assists (106). She also ranks in the all-time top 10 for
points scored (3,670), defensive rebounds (1,842), total
rebounds (2,255) and
turnovers (727). Whittle was selected to the
WNBL All-Star Five on four occasions; 1996, 1997, 2004/05 and 2005/06. Also in 2005/06, Whittle was named the Canberra Capitals
Most Valuable Player. Whittle won WNBL Championships with Canberra in 2005/06 and with Adelaide Lightning in 2007/08. Having played over 250 games in the WNBL, Whittle was awarded Life Membership in 2006.
WNBA Whittle nominated for the
1999 Women's National Basketball Association draft and was selected in the fourth round (pick 37 overall) by the
Washington Mystics. In 1999, she played in 3 games before returning to Australia to concentrate on playing for Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and practice full-time with the team. In 2001, Whittle was playing in Europe, but returned to the WNBA where she played a further 4 games for the Mystics. On 14 June 2001, Whittle was placed on the
injured list and eight days later her contract was terminated by the Mystics. She returned to Europe to play.
European Leagues For a number of years from the late 1990s until the mid 2000s, Whittle played
professionally in
Europe – with distinction – with the
Burgos club in the
Spanish Basketball League,
Tarbes in the
French Basketball League and
Pécs 2010 in the
Hungarian Basketball League. ==See also==