A’ja Wilson, US women hold off France to win eighth straight Olympic basketball gold medal

Follow along for the latest updates from today’s Olympic action, including the women’s basketball final, where host France faces the U.S., and later, the closing ceremony.

PARIS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 21 points and the U.S. women’s basketball team survived the biggest challenge of its unprecedented run to eight straight Olympic gold medals with a 67-66 win over France at the Paris Games on Sunday.

No team had been able to push the Americans during this impressive streak of 61 consecutive wins. Only two of those victories had been by single digits before the game against France.

The eight straight golds broke a tie with the American men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68. The women’s victory came less than 24 hours after the U.S. men’s team also beat France in the title game. This was the first time in Olympic history that both gold medal games featured the same two teams.

Unlike the men’s game this one came down to the final minute and one last shot by France that was just inside the 3-point line

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games