By KRISTIE RIEKEN, AP Sports Writer
PARIS – The United States won gold in men’s basketball and women’s soccer at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday and added three more gold medals in a magnificent evening on the athletics track.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points to lead Team USA to a 98-87 victory over France at Bercy Arena, winning the team’s fifth consecutive gold medal and 17th overall. France got 26 points from star Victor Wembanyama, but that wasn’t enough to give the host nation its first gold medal in the sport.
The U.S. needed a comeback to beat Serbia 95-91 in a thrilling semifinal. In the final, Curry hit four 3-pointers in the final three minutes. As he made the last one, which increased the lead to 96-87 with 35 seconds left, he put his hands to the side of his face in a “go to sleep” gesture.
“I think we’re probably the only team in the world whose fans are embarrassed for them when they win a silver medal,” said U.S. coach Steve Kerr. “That’s the pressure we face. But our players – and you saw Steph – love the pressure. They appreciate that atmosphere and they were fantastic.”
Kevin Durant, the first four-time gold medalist in men’s basketball to win the Olympic championship, contributed 15 points, while LeBron James had 14. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, James clenched his fist before hugging Durant.
It is the fourth Olympic silver for France, which finished second to the Americans in 1948, 2000 and 2020. Wembanyama, this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year, cried as the U.S. celebrated. Later, Durant hugged him and the two talked for a few minutes.
The previous Saturday, the U.S. women’s soccer team defeated Brazil 1-0 with a second-half goal to win their fifth Olympic gold medal and first since London 2012.
After Swanson put the Americans ahead, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher secured the win by making a one-handed save from Adriana’s header in injury time at the Parc des Princes.
“We’ve evolved so much,” said Swanson, who made her 100th appearance with the national team. “And to see that is really cool for me. We’ve evolved on and off the field. And you probably hear it all the time – we play with joy. We have so much fun and I’m just so happy.”
On the final night of events at the Stade de France, the USA won both 4×400 relays and Masai Russell took gold in the 100-meter hurdles in a photo finish.
The United States won 34 medals in track and field at the Paris Games, the most medals the country has won in a non-boycotted Olympic Games since the early 20th century, when there were more competitions and fewer countries. The 14 gold medals are the most in a non-boycotted Olympic Games since Bob Beamon, Tommie Smith and John Carlos led the United States to 15 victories in 1968.
US relay teams win gold
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas led the Americans to a 4.23-second victory in the women’s 4×400 relay.
The gold medalists in the 400-meter hurdles and the 200-meter run decided the second and third legs for the United States, leaving Alexis Holmes with a lead of 30 meters that no longer gave up any ground.
The USA finished with a time of 3 minutes and 15.27 seconds, missing the world record by just 0.1 seconds.
The American men won gold in the same race about 15 minutes earlier in a much closer finish.
Rai Benjamin edged Letsile Tebogo in the final stretch to secure an Olympic record time for the men. Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he won the night before in the 400-meter hurdles, preventing 200-meter champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another triumph over the Americans.
It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprint sensation, who stole the show for the United States in the 200-meter race on Thursday – taking gold, beating Kenny Bednarek for silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for COVID-19, for bronze.
The U.S. quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the American 4×400 team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And Saturday’s time was just 0.14 seconds slower than the world record set by the United States in 1993.
“Team USA has always been superior in 4×4,” Bailey said, “and we just wanted to keep it that way.”
Russell wins hurdles in photo finish
In the hurdles, Masia Russell defeated Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who won the first ever silver medal for France at an Olympic athletics meeting.
In a close race on the straight, Russell finished in 12.33 seconds, but had to wait 15 seconds to learn that she had beaten the Frenchwoman by 0.01 seconds.
Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, competing for Puerto Rico, was a further 0.02 seconds behind to take the bronze medal in front of a cheering crowd that included French President Emmanuel Macron and Mick Jagger.
The cheers were loudest for Samba-Mayela, who ended a shutout for the host country.
“I want to celebrate with the French public because they have supported and encouraged me throughout all these Olympic Games,” said Samba-Mayela.
Lin Yu-ting wins gold in boxing
Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting won a gold medal in the women’s featherweight division on Saturday night, responding to the intense scrutiny both fighters have faced in the ring and around the world due to misconceptions about their femininity, just as she had taken the lead a day earlier.
In the final at Roland Garros, Lin beat Poland’s Julia Szeremeta 5-0, capping her four-fight unbeaten streak in Paris and ensuring that Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing medal is a gold one.
“I feel incredible,” Lin said after her fourth consecutive 5-0 win. “I want to thank everyone who supported me and thank my team and everyone in Taiwan. They gave me the strength.”
On Friday, Khelif won Algeria’s first medal in women’s boxing with a decisive victory in her own final against China’s Yang Liu.
Both fighters braved an avalanche of criticism and uninformed speculation about their gender to deliver the best performances of their boxing careers. Lin won all four of her fights 5-0, although she did not win every round on every judges’ card like Khelif did.
Ko’s gold takes her into the LPGA Hall of Fame
Lydia Ko completed her Olympic medal collection with the most valuable of all: a gold medal that brings the 27-year-old New Zealander into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
“I knew the next 18 holes would be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said. “I knew I would only be in this position once in my life.”
Ko built a five-shot lead on the back nine at Le Golf National as her closest rivals all crumbled, and then had to hold on until the end. With her lead down to one shot, Ko made a 7-foot birdie putt for a 1-under-par 71 and a two-shot lead.
Ko won the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. In Tokyo she won the bronze medal. The missing medal proved to be worth more than its weight in gold. With the victory she achieved a total of 27 points for the LPGA Hall of Fame, one of the strictest criteria for induction into a hall of fame.
China wins gold medals in diving
Cao Yuan defended his title in the men’s 10m platform diving and gave China an unprecedented victory in the diving gold medals at the Paris Games.
The Big Red Machine won all eight gold medals at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, most of them in convincing victories.
That was not the case in the final jumping event of the Games. With his teammate Yang Hao having an unusually bad day and Japan’s Rikuto Tamai keeping up the pressure until a failed jump in the penultimate round, the burden of completing the sweep fell squarely on Cao’s thin shoulders.
“I believe in myself,” Cao said through an interpreter. “I am very, very confident.”
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