Escuchar
PARIS (Special correspondent).- The winner of the Olympic medal table deserved a resolution like the one that took place at the Bercy Arena, the stadium in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, next to the Seine. It was only fair that the head-to-head between the United States and China, two giants, was resolved with a situation that made everyone tremble until the last moment. In the women’s basketball final, the American team extended its impressive series of consecutive gold medals to eight by beating the host, France, in an electric outcome, 67-66. Thanks to this last gold, a few hours before the closing ceremony of Paris 2024 at the Stade de France, the United States finished the Olympic Games as the leader on the medal table, with a very small margin over the Asian country.
The cry of basketball player A’ja Wilson, who scored 21 points against Les Bleus, was the relief of the entire delegation, not just the basketball representatives. Thus, Team USA reached 40 gold medals, the same number as China; however, it surpassed the Asian giant in silver medals (44 against 27) and also in bronze medals (43 against 24). Japan finished third with 20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.
Diana Taurasi won her sixth consecutive gold medal: she has Argentine rootsSarah Stier – Getty Images Europe
France really pushed the US team to the limit in the basketball final. With a brilliant performance from Gabby Williams, who scored 19 points, the host team cornered the United States until the end on the court of the same stadium where a few hours earlier LeBron James, Stephen Curry and company had also won gold, beating the French.
However, beyond the suffocating pressure until the last moment of the French, the USA, in which the legend did not score any points Diana Taurasi (42 years old, with Argentine roots, Rosario Central fan)survived to extend its impressive Olympic winning streak to 61 victories. The U.S.’s last loss (79-73) was to the CIS, a team of athletes from the countries that formed the Soviet Union, more than three decades ago, at Barcelona 1992. For Taurasi, it also marked her sixth Olympic gold medal, a record for an athlete at the Games in any team discipline.
Gymnast Simone Biles won three golds and one silver at Paris 2024Santiago Filipuzzi / Special Envoy – Santiago Filipuzzi/ Special Envoy
This Sunday, on the sixteenth and final day of competition at Paris 2024, everything started with some suspense, with China leading the medal table, with one more gold than the United States (39 vs. 38). Team USA was planning to add two more Olympic titles on this last day, in volleyball and women’s basketball, but, on the first, Italy (with Argentine Julio Velasco as coach and brilliant mind) surprised and prevailed over the champions in Tokyo 2020.
China also added a final gold medal thanks to its weightlifter Li Wenwen and everything seemed to be going in favour of the Asians. However, at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, 40 kilometres from the Olympic Village, the United States caught its breath when Jennifer Valente won gold in the women’s omnium. Everything remained to be decided in the women’s basketball…
American LeBron James, star of the basketball team that won a new Olympic medalMichael Conroy – AP
The United States could have easily taken over the medal table before the final breath. On Saturday, in the high jump competition, American Shelby McEwen and New Zealander Hamish Kerrin a relentless quest for gold, failed to clear the 2.38m mark in three attempts. The judges lowered the bar to 2.36 and even 2.34. Both athletes had a forced break during the men’s 4x400m relay to regroup and, after McEwen’s failed attempt, it was Kerr (1m98) who was able to clear the bar at that height to claim victory. Witness to this struggle was Qatari Mutaz Barshim, who had had an “Olympic romance” with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi at Tokyo 2020, in one of the most curious gestures in athletics.
Three years ago in the East, both Barshim and Tamberi finished with jumps of 2.37 meters and had no failed attempts until they tried to clear 2.39 meters. After three stumbles each, an Olympic official offered them a jump-off to decide the winner. “Can we have two golds?” Barshim asked. The official nodded, and the athletes shook hands and whooped with joy. But in this case, Kerr ran separate ways from McEwen. There were no agreements. The US suffered, but managed to climb higher than all countries by the end of Paris 2024.
Conocé The Trust Project
