The US women’s national basketball team continued its incredible gold streak when it defeated France in the final in Paris.
In the end, the extremely tight match was decided by only one point in favor of the USA. It took the victory with a score of 67–66.
Women’s basketball has been part of the Olympics since 1976. The Soviet Union won the first two times, but the USA famously boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980. In 1992, the United Team of the Soviet Republics won the gold.
The United States has now won the Olympic gold medal in women’s basketball eight times in a row. In total, it has won the Olympic gold in the sport ten times. 42 years old among the great players of the United States Diana Taurasi already won his sixth Olympic gold in his career.
Thriller on the basketball court
France led the match by ten points in the third period and was caught in one of the biggest surprises in Olympic history.
France still led the match for a good five minutes before the end, but the USA first came alongside and then passed. However, France fought to the last. Gaby Williams brought France within a point with four seconds to play.
Williams broke USA a moment later Kahleah Copperwho sank both free throws to give the USA a 67-64 lead with 3.8 seconds left.
But France and Williams still didn’t give up. Williams had a chance to pull France level when he made a last-second basket just outside the three-point arc, and as the buzzer sounded, both teams were left wondering whether it was a three-pointer or a two-pointer.
Video review showed that Williams had time to run inside the arc, and France’s incredible streak ended up coming within a point.
The superstar who celebrated the men’s Olympic gold the night before LeBron James watched on the sidelines as the USA women extended their insane winning streak on the Olympic courts. It’s now 61 games since 1992.
– I am sad for the players because they fought, they have worked hard for two months. What they showed today is very remarkable. Hats off to the team, France’s disappointed head coach Jean-Aime Toupane stated.
With six championships, Diana Taurasi is now the most successful basketball player in Olympic history. By Sue Bird is five gold. Taurasi did not play in the final.
– It was a great match. Great French team, great crowd. But we found a way to win, and that’s what these games are all about. It was difficult. Do you think everything is beautiful and every throw sinks? Taurasi commented after the match.
In her impressive career, Taurasi has won, among other things, the WNBA championship three times and the Euroleague six times.
Although Taurasi was no longer so important for the team, other USA players were glowing with the legend.
– We are talking about the gold standard, and he is that. How many wins has he brought? I don’t know, surprised Breanna Stewart.
USA head coach Cheryl Reeve said that he talked a lot with Tauras about his role before the Games. Reeve praised Tauras’ leadership on the team.
– I don’t know if there has been a better competitor in USA basketball, although there have been other great ones.
Brittney Griner wiped away tears during the medal ceremony. His playing in the Olympics is one kind of miracle. He previously spent ten months in a Russian prison until December 2022.
612 days after his release, Griner, 33, received his third Olympic gold medal.
In Tokyo 2021, Griner threw the US team’s highest ever score in the finals: 30. Now he said he appreciates the smaller things as well.
– The gold medal is just icing on the cake, also being at the Olympics…, Griner felt.
– It was a long journey, a difficult journey. I’m just happy that my body held up and I was able to be here.
Griner was able to celebrate the gold medal even with his newborn son, Bashin with.
Thriller in the medal table
At the same time, the thriller-like women’s basketball final made the United States the number one country in the medal table at the Paris Games.
The medal battle between the United States and China was intense throughout the Games, and the final day offered plenty of twists and turns in the struggle. In the end, the USA won 40 golds and a total of 126 medals (40 gold, 44 silver, 42 bronze). China’s balance was 40 gold and a total of 91 medals (40, 27, 24).
The USA lost one bronze medal in gymnastics in a peculiar protest saga.
On Sunday, China already seemed to advance to the medal position Li Wenwen’s won weightlifting gold, but Jennifer Valente the victory in track cycling brought the United States within one gold medal again. The order of the medal table is determined first by the number of gold medals, then silver medals and finally bronze medals.
Since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the United States has topped the Summer Olympics medal table in every game. China managed to break their rival’s streak of first place at their home games in Beijing in 2008. The battle between the two countries was also extremely tight three years ago in Tokyo, as the United States won only one gold more than China at that time.
Japan finished third in the medal table at the Paris Games, as well as at the Tokyo Games. Japan achieved 20 gold medals in France (20, 12, 13), eight of which came in wrestling. At the Tokyo Games, Japan won no fewer than nine judo golds, but in Paris the number fell to three.
Fourth-placed Australia (18, 19, 16) and sixth-placed Holland (15, 7, 12) collected the largest gold pot in their history at the Summer Olympics. The host country, France, took fifth place with a handsome balance of 16 golds and 64 medals. Britain won 65 medals, but with 14 gold medals, the ranking in the medal table was seventh.
The biggest surprises in the medal table were New Zealand, which took 11th place, and Uzbekistan, which took 13th place. New Zealand won ten golds and Uzbekistan eight, five of which came from men’s boxing.
Among the Nordic countries, Sweden was 16th (4, 4, 3), Norway 18th (4, 1, 3) and Denmark 29th (2, 2, 5) in the medal table. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, Finland was left without a medal.