The U.S. women’s basketball team confirmed it is the most dominant team in Olympic history on Sunday afternoon, surviving a thrilling final against France to win 67-66 and secure an eighth straight gold medal in the final event of the Paris Games.
In a back-and-forth match before a raucous crowd at Bercy Arena that cheered every French basket, the Americans trailed by 10 points in the third quarter before fighting back to extend their record of 61 consecutive Olympic wins dating back to 1992. The U.S. women set the record for the longest streak of Olympic gold medals in a traditional team sport, surpassing the previous mark set by the U.S. men’s basketball team, which won seven straight from 1936 to 1968.
A’ja Wilson scored a game-high 21 points in a game that was decided only when Gabby Williams made a last-gasp basket off a Marin Johannes cross from inside the three-point line, denying the hosts a chance to extend the game to overtime by a few inches. That France held on to such a slim lead was remarkable given that only two teams during the U.S.’s record winning streak had managed to keep a lead within single digits.
“We were able to stand up to what we had to do,” said Wilson, who won her second Olympic gold medal. “We kept playing hard. It’s great basketball and that’s what people want. Our defense settled down, we were able to block the attacks and we started to get excited.”
The USA-France game was a rematch of the gold medal game at the 2012 London Olympics, which the Americans won by 36 points, the largest margin of victory in an Olympic basketball final. This game was even closer.
Despite their offensive prowess, the Americans entered the gold medal game having failed to score a single goal in the full 40 minutes of the tournament. That pattern continued Sunday, as the Americans made just two of 12 (17 percent) three-point attempts and finished with 19 fouls. The Americans were particularly sloppy with the ball in a low-scoring first half that ended in a 25-25 tie.
When France scored 10 straight points to take a 35-25 lead early in the third quarter, the crowd at the raucous Bercy Arena erupted. But the Americans closed the gap almost immediately through goals from Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Brianna Stewart and a brilliant substitute, Sabrina Ionescu, to take a 41-40 lead on Nafisa Collier’s long-range shot after a great pass from Ionescu.
With LeBron James sitting courtside wearing the gold medal he won in the same building on Saturday night, France didn’t stop trying. They led 51-49 with 5:31 left, getting the crowd back on their feet, but were hit by a series of crucial errors in the closing minutes, including a failed three-point attempt by Williams, as France trailed 62-59 with 54 seconds left.
“Maybe they won’t say it’s easy and we’re going to win the gold medal. Maybe they’ll stop saying that, because like I said, we see the best in everyone. And we saw the shot that France gave us,” said U.S. midfielder Brittney Griner, struggling to hold back tears after winning her third gold medal.
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With the win, Diana Taurasi secured her sixth Olympic gold medal, the most by an individual in any team sport in history, while Plum and Jackie Young became the first players to win Olympic gold medals in both 3×3 and 5×5 basketball.
The United States women have won eight consecutive Olympic gold medals and six of the past seven World Cups. Their only defeat during that span in Olympic or World Cup competition was in the 2006 World Cup semifinals to Russia.
Sunday’s match capped a weekend in which France and the United States played for the men’s and women’s gold medals, the first time that has happened in Olympic history.