USA seals FIFTH straight double gold in Olympics basketball as women’s team beat France 67-66 with LeBron James and men’s stars watching on after their own triumph
The US maintains its grip on the Olympic basketball tournament after the women’s team defeated France on Sunday, along with the men’s team, to take gold.
LeBron James and two of his male teammates, proud of their gold medals at the Bercy Arena, watched in the crowd as A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum inspired their female teammates to a hard-fought 67-66 victory over the home team.
That means the United States has now won gold five times in a row in men’s and women’s basketball at the Olympics, while the latter countries have won a record eight straight.
Wilson scored 21 points as the women’s team survived the biggest challenge of an unprecedented run of eight consecutive Olympic gold medals against France.
No team had been able to push them during an impressive run of 61 consecutive victories, with only two of those wins coming in single figures before the match against France.
The US has maintained its grip on Olympic basketball after the women’s team joined the men’s team in beating France to take gold
The eight straight gold medals broke a tie with the American men’s program, which won seven in a row between 1936 and 1968.
Their victory came less than 24 hours after the U.S. men’s team also defeated France in the final, marking the first time in Olympic history that both gold medal games were played by the same two teams.
Unlike the men’s game, this match came down to the final minute and a final shot from France, which went just inside the three-point line.
The Americans led 67-64 with 3.9 seconds left after Kahleah Copper made two free throws. Marine Johannes passed the ball to Gabby Williams who caught it just inside the 3-point line and hit it over the outstretched arms of Breanna Srewart for the final margin.
It took a while for the officials to signal that it was a two-point shot. After that, there was a celebration and lots of hugs for the Americans. The French players couldn’t believe it, because they just missed.
LeBron James looked on with his own gold medal after the men’s championship victory on Saturday, sitting with daughter Zhuri Nova (right), 9, and teammate Bam Adebayo (left)
A’ja Wilson scored 21 points as the women’s team survived the toughest challenge of an unprecedented run of eight straight Olympic gold medals
Kelsey Plum also helped the US to a fifth straight double Olympic win
No team has ever won eight consecutive Olympic events, making history for the women’s team
Williams, who scored 19 points, had scored a deep 3-0 run seconds earlier, putting France just one point away from Copper’s free throws.
LeBron attended the Women’s Finals with his wife Savannah and daughter Zhuri Nova, 9, while teammates Bam Adebayo and Derrick White were also seated next to them.
On Saturday night, the U.S. men’s team held off France with 24 points from Steph Curry. A star-studded group, including LeBron and Kevin Durant, prevented a late surge from the home team.
The Americans led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but saw their lead shrink to just three points after a Victor Wembanyama tip-in with just under three minutes remaining.
From that point on, Curry was very successful, scoring four three-pointers from 2:48 minutes in, leading the US to the gold medal.
LeBron, Adebayo and Derrick White (third from right) enjoyed the women’s victory on Sunday
Steph Curry couldn’t resist poking fun at France by wearing a brutal ‘Nuit Nuit’ hoodie after the men’s victory on Saturday
His final stab in the back came during a stopped game with 35 seconds left, when he drilled a three-pointer over the arms of Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum to cut the lead to nine.
There was no way back for France and Curry knew that when he delivered his famous “night-night celebration” with the final half-minute not changing anything decisively for the US.
Later on Saturday night, he continued to taunt the host nation by wearing a hoodie that read “Nuit Nuit” – French for “Goodnight.”
American journalist Rachel Nicols shared a video of Curry wearing the hoodie on Saturday night, and American fans went wild for his bold choice of attire.