The women's basketball final was the last event (apart from the closing ceremony starting at 9 p.m.) of the Paris Olympics, a 67-66 win over the French, and the last gold medal for the United States. On the final day, medals were still up for grabs in 13 events, including the pentathlon, which saw Michelle Golias become Olympic champion with a brilliant run.
The Americans put in a lot of work on the final day, just hours before the end of the program, with China still leading in gold medals, then came the women's omnium track cyclist competition, won by Jennifer Valente, then basketball. The players sweated it out to beat the hosts, the French shot at the last second from the three-point line came inside, so there was no overtime, but the Americans prevailed, winning the women's basketball gold for the eighth time in their history. Row.
The US women's basketball team is the Olympic champion for the eighth consecutive time – Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Both China and the United States have won 40 gold medals at the Olympics, which is a tie. Both countries’ combined total of 40 gold medals is a far cry from Tokyo, where the US finished with 39 and China with 38. In terms of total medals, the US led the pack with 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze, for a total of 126 medals, to China’s 91. Incidentally, 126 is just shy of the US record of an insane 293 medals won at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.
Japan finished third on the medal table with a score of 20-12-13, host France won 16 gold, 25 silver and 22 bronze and finished fifth, and Hungary finished 14th on the medal table.
Most of China's gold medals came in jumping (8), shooting (5), table tennis (5) and weightlifting (5), while the US won in athletics (14) and swimming (8).
Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem won Pakistan’s first individual gold medal, and Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal was a straight gold – Julian Alfred won the 100m, followed by another silver in the 200m. The Dominican Republic won its first gold medal (triple jump) through Thea Lafond, while Botswana celebrated its first gold medal in the men’s 200m through Letsile Tebogo. The Refugee Olympic Team also won a medal, and Cameroonian boxer Sindy Njamba took bronze.
All the gold medalists on the last day of the Olympics, including Julias and Michelle:
Athletics
Women's Marathon: Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
wrestling
Freestyle 65kg: Kijuka Kotaro (Japan)
Freestyle 97kg: Ahmed Tazodinov (Bahrain)
Women's 76kg: Kagami Goka (JPN)
Handball
Men: Denmark (Niklas Landin Jacobsen, Niklas Kirkelo, Magnus Landin Jacobsen, Emil Jacobsen, Rasmus Logschmidt, Emil Nielsen, Magnus Saugstrup, Hans Lindberg, Mattias Gedsel, Henrik Mølgaard, Mikkel Hansen, Lucas Jørgensen, Lasse Andersson, Simon Hald Jensen, Thomas Arnoldsen, Simon Pitlik)
basketball
Women: United States (Nafisa Collier, Kalia Cooper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewel Lloyd, Kelsey Bloom, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Alyssa Thomas, Aja Wilson, Jackie Young)
The pentagon
Women: Julia Michel
bike path
Women's Omnium: Jennifer Valenti (USA)
Women's sprint: Elsie Andrews (NZL)
Kieran Men: Harry Lavriesen (Netherlands)
volleyball
Name: Olazourszaj (Ekaterina Antropova, Katerina Bosetti, Carlotta Campi, Anna Danesi, Monica Di Gennaro, Paola Egono, Sara Luisa Fahr, Gaia Giovannini, Marina Lupien, Loveth Omoruyi, Alessia Oro, Ilaria Spirito, Miriam Sella)
weight lifting
+81kg Women: Li Wenfen (China)
water polo
FEREX: Serbia (Radoslav Filipovic, Radoslav Filipovic, Dusan Mandic, Strahinja Rašovic, Sava Randjelovic, Milos Cuk, Nikola Dedovic, Radomir Drasovic, Nikola Jakšić, Nemanja Obovic, Nemanja Fico, Petar Jakšić, Viktor Rasovic, Vladimir Mesovic)
