A masterclass at both ends of the floor from Ezi Magbegor ensured Australia ended its women’s basketball campaign with a bronze medal.
Magbegor (30 points – 12/16 field goals, 0/1 beyond the arc, 6/6 free-throw attempts, 13 rebounds, three assists) nailed a series of late free-throws in the dying minutes as the Opals defeated Belgium 85-81 on Sunday night at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
Trailing by three points with 24.6 seconds left in the game, the Belgians had eight seconds to work with on the shot clock after emerging from their final time-out.
Such was the vice-like defence applied by the Opals, Belgium was unable to get a shot off and received a shot clock violation, which effectively iced the result.
The Opals lost their opening pool game in a boilover to Nigeria, and doubts surfaced whether they would reach the knockout stage of the tournament – however since that result, their only blemish was a semifinal loss against the US.
In the gold medal game, the US – which had not lost a game at Olympic level since 1992 – were given an almighty fright by France on Sunday night.
The Americans held off the fast-finishing French 67-66 in an absorbing battle, on the back of Gabrielle Williams making two heads-up plays offensively inside the final five seconds of the game for the home side.
Williams drained a three-point shot with five seconds left to trim the margin to one point, before immediately fouling to stop the clock.
Kahleah Cooper proceeded to make both of her shots at free-throw line for the Americans, before Williams landed her final jump shot a second out from time expiring.
Had her foot not been on the three-point line while taking the shot, Williams’ shot would have been declared a three-point attempt, which would have sent the game into overtime.
Victory marked an eighth consecutive gold medal for the US women’s basketball team, which has won 61 games on the bounce.
Final Medal tally
The US (40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze) finished top courtesy of victory in the women’s basketball final, with China (40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze) in second. Australia (18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze) finished fourth.
Athletics – Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands capped off her arduous week in style on Sunday night, setting a new Olympic record of 2hours:22min:55sec in the women’s 42km marathon.
Heading into her final event, Hassan had already clocked over 20km in her legs, having won bronze in the 5000m and 10,000m.
Closing ceremony – Focus now shifts to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, with six new sports arriving and two likely to depart.
Flag football (American football with no contact) and squash will be played for the first time – while baseball, cricket, softball and lacrosse will also be held.
It is believed break dancing will not return, while boxing may also not make the cut.
Cycling – Perth’s Matthew Richardson and Australian teammate Matthew Glaetzer won silver and bronze respectively in the men’s Keirin. Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands ended his remarkable campaign with another gold medal.
New Zealand also won its inaugural sprint cycling medal, courtesy of Ellesse Andrews’ gold on Sunday night against Lea Friedrich of Germany.
Handball – Denmark took gold in the men’s gold medal game at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium, leading throughout their 39-26 win over Germany. Spain pipped Slovenia 23-22 for bronze.
Beach volleyball – Italy had all the answers against the US in the women’s final, winning 3-0 (28-15, 25-20, 25-17).
Water polo – Serbia defeated Croatia 13-11 to secure gold in the men’s final, while the US edged out Hungary 11-8 for bronze, after the game went to penalty shots.
Saturday wrap
Athletics – Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon became the first female athlete to win the women’s 1500m Olympic final on three separate occasions.
While Kipyegon was naturally ecstatic, so to was Australia’s Jessica Hull, who produced a sterling final 100m to run second, while Great Britain’s Georgia Bell finished third.
Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen ended his stint in Paris on a high note, outlasting Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi and Grant Fisher of the US in the men’s 5000m final.
Earlier in the week, Ingebrigtsen finished fourth in the men’s 1500m, after his late-race attempt at impeding eventual victor Cole Hocker garnered significant scrutiny.
The US claimed both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays – although the effort of the silver-winning Botswana men’s team caught the eye of the world.
Basketball – Steph Curry blasted 8/12 from three-point land, as the Team USA men’s team prevailed 98-87 over host nation France at the Bercy Arena on Sunday morning. A few hours earlier, Serbia took bronze after brushing past Germany 93-83.
Football – A quality finish from Mallory Swanson in the 57th minute helped the US defeat Brazil 1-0 in the women’s gold medal match on Saturday night at the Parc des Princes.
This was the Americans’ first gold medal since 2012, despite their longstanding dominance of international women’s football.
Table tennis – China was too good for Japan in the women’s team gold medal match, winning 3-0.
Water polo – Australia’s brave bid for a gold medal in the women’s tournament fell short on Saturday night at the Paris La Defense Arena, with Spain running out 11-9 victors.
The gallant Australians scored two late goals inside the final two minutes – courtesy of Sienna Hearn and Alice Williams – which added some respectability to the final result.
