The United States women’s team is from another planet.
The women brought home gold last night after giving Japan work in the gold medal matchup. The smaller Japanese team had difficulty matching up with the taller, stronger, and more athletic United States roster.
Brittney Griner had 30 points, the most in a gold medal game in women’s Olympic history, and A’ja Wilson had 19 points to combine for more than half of the Americans’ point total in their 90-75 victory.
The win marks the 55th consecutive victory for the US women’s squad and the seventh straight gold medal for the organization. This streak of gold medals ties the run the men had from 1936-1968 for the longest gold medal streak in the history of the team sport. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi also made history by taking home their fifth gold medal each. They are the first basketball players, men or women, to have five Olympic gold medals to their name. The accomplishment just adds to their already impressive resumes as athletes.
It’s definitely a time for celebration for these women.
Unlike the men, the women’s team gave us a sense of peace watching their games during this Olympic run, because we knew no other team had a shot. The USA women’s team dominated every single outing during this Olympics, beating teams by an average of 20 points in the knockout rounds.
The US women proved that the rest of the world still has a ways to go before they can catch up to America in women’s hoops. The gap between the best women in the United States and the best women in other countries is glaring. Not even the advantage of changed FIBA rules or more camaraderie between international teams can help limit the gap, as it has on the men’s side. The women are just way too dominant.
The rest of the world is narrowing the gap, but it’s not looking like anyone will catch the US Women any time soon.
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