Cherelle, wife of Brittney Griner: "Today my family is complete"

Cherelle Griner, wife of basketball star Brittney Griner, stood next to President Biden at the White House during his announcement of his wife's release Thursday and said she had endured some of the "darkest times" of her life since her partner's arrest in Moscow in February.

Over the months , she has consistently exerted public pressure on the White House not to forget his wife and she has said that "today my family is complete".

"The most important emotion I have right now is sincere gratitude to President Biden and his entire administration. He just mentioned that this job isn't easy, and it wasn't," she said, adding that she also remembered the family of Paul Whelan, another American still imprisoned in Russia.

Cherelle Griner said in October that she had spoken to his wife only twice by phone since her detention. She said at the time that the W.N.B.A. star was afraid of being "left and forgotten".

In her brief remarks, she also thanked fellow W.N.B.A. players for their support. The players had carried out social media campaigns and charity work in support of Brittney Griner, who has played for the Phoenix Mercury since 2013.

She was arrested in February in an airport near Moscow. . Customs officials accused her of carrying vape cartridges containing hash oil in her luggage. She had returned to Russia to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a powerful professional women's basketball team, in the W.N.B.A. out of season.