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Yes, Chef! Curry lifts USA to another gold
Well, I guess we all know what it’s like to be a Warriors fan now.
The best shooter to ever live: Steph Curry went nuclear against France on Saturday night at Bercy Arena, scoring 12 of his 24 points in the final three minutes — and hitting perhaps the greatest shot in Olympics history — to lift Team USA to a 98-87 victory and their fifth straight gold medal.
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After a slow start in Paris, Curry shined bright when it mattered most, scoring 60 points over his final two games while making 17 of his 26 three-point attempts.
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Kevin Durant added 15 points in Saturday’s gold medal game, while LeBron James filled the box score once again, totaling 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
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Victor Wembanyama was brilliant for France, scoring a game-high 26 points while doing a little bit of everything. Reminder: He’s only 19 years old.
What they’re saying: “It wasn’t easy, but damn, I’m excited man,” said Curry after winning his first gold medal. “This is everything that I wanted it to be and more.”
Tournament MVP: James won MVP after leading all players in virtually every meaningful category… at age 39. There are no words left to describe his greatness.
From Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel:
One day another country is going to beat the United States again. Perhaps it will be France as Wembanyama continues to develop as an elite player.
His potential remains enormous, maybe even higher now than ever. But not tonight, Steph Curry said. Not yet.
Game notes:
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Team nickname: “There’s the Dream Team, the Redeem Team. What’s this team?” LeBron’s answer: “The Avengers.”
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Olympic legends: Durant is the first men’s basketball player to win four gold medals and James is the first to win gold in three different decades.
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Unsung hero: “Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player,” Steve Kerr said postgame. “Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
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Amazing post: Tyrese Haliburton, who didn’t play much in Paris, posted a selfie with his gold medal and captioned it: “When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A.” So great.
All-Tournament Teams (per FIBA)
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First Team: Dennis Schröder (Germany), Curry (USA), James (USA), Wembanyama (France), Nikola Jokić (Serbia)
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Second Team: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), Bogdan Bogdanović (Serbia), Franz Wagner (Germany), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece)
NBA countdown: 72 days until the 2024-25 season tips off on October 22. In the immortal words of Bart Scott: “Can’t wait!”
Photos of the day
🇺🇸 Back on top: The USWNT beat Brazil, 1-0, behind Mallory Swanson’s second-half strike to win their first Olympic gold since 2012. They’ve now won nine major tournaments (five Olympics, four World Cups), which is more than all other teams combined (eight).
🥇🥇 4x400m relay sweep: The U.S. men and women both took gold in the 4x400m relay to close out the track & field program with 34 medals and 14 golds, both of which are their most at a single Olympics since 1984.
⛳️ Welcome to the Hall of Fame: New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (-10), who came to Paris one win shy of qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame, took gold by two strokes at Le Golf National. She now has one bronze (Tokyo), one silver (Rio) and one gold.
🔥 Fastest 800m final ever: Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyoni took gold in a historically fast 800m final, running the third-best time ever (1:41:19) to beat Canada’s Marco Arop by 0.01 seconds.
Day 15 recap: More from Saturday
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Athlete spotlight: Olivia Reeves made history this week, becoming the first American woman to win weightlifting gold since 2000, the first year women’s weightlifting was an Olympic sport.
Golden Girl: Reeves, 21, lifted 258 pounds in the snatch to set an Olympic record for the 71kg (157 pounds) division and become the youngest American weightlifter to win gold since 1956.
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Reeves, a senior at UT-Chattanooga, began lifting as a fourth grader at the CrossFit gym her parents owned.
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“She’s on track to be the best U.S. weightlifter in women’s history,” former Olympian Cara Heads Slaughter told NPR.
Resurgent program: Team USA entered Paris having won just eight weightlifting medals since 1968. But this year’s team signals a program on the rise.
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Reeves was joined by Hampton Morris, 20, who took bronze on Wednesday to become the first American man to win an Olympic weightlifting medal in 40 years.
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That makes these the first Summer Games ever in which a U.S. man and woman both won weightlifting medals.
Best of Team USA social: Volleyball players receive letters from loved ones … Steph had the whole world talking … New USWNT era, same gold habits
Team USA: News | Athletes | Shop
Follow along at TeamUSA.com and @TeamUSA on social media.
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Full medal count.
Watchlist: USA vs. France for gold, again
Today, it’s the women’s turn to play France for basketball gold (9:30am ET, NBC) as the Americans seek their eighth straight gold medal.
More to watch: Just six other gold medals are up for grabs today in Paris, and matches have either started or start very soon.
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🏐 Women’s Volleyball: USA vs. Italy for Gold (7am, NBC)
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🤾 Men’s Handball: Germany vs. Denmark for Gold (7:30am, USA)
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🚴♂️ Track Cycling: Women’s Sprint, Women’s Omnium and Men’s Keirin (7:15am, Peacock)
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🤽♂️ Men’s Water Polo: Serbia vs. Croatia for Gold (8am, Peacock)
Closing Ceremony: The Games will officially conclude with the Closing Ceremony at Stade de France (3pm, NBC). As is tradition, the ceremony will include a handover from one Olympic Games to the next, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass accepting the Olympic Torch in preparation for LA 2028.
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Five-time Grammy winner H.E.R. will sing the Star-Spangled Banner, while Los Angeles natives Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform live from L.A.
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Plus, Tom Cruise will reportedly perform a stunt from the roof of the stadium before the broadcast cuts to a pre-taped segment of him skydiving to the Hollywood sign.
For a complete schedule, click here. Every event streams live on Peacock. Sign up here.
Daily trivia
Team USA men’s basketball has now won eight of the last nine Olympic gold medals.
Question: Who won gold the year they didn’t?
Answer at the bottom.
In non-Olympics news…
🏈 Top picks shine in debuts: Bears QB Caleb Williams and Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, the top two picks in this spring’s draft, dazzled in their preseason debuts on Saturday with a handful of highlight reel throws. Just 25 days until the season begins.
Plus:
Trivia answer: Argentina (2004)
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