The 2024 Paris Olympics will begin on July 26 and end on Aug. 11. During that span, hundreds of medals will be awarded for multiple sports, including women’s 5×5 basketball.
Team USA will be heavily favored, given that the country has won nine gold medals and seven-straight since 1996. While the rest of the world may still be behind the States, they are catching up, and France is a team that will have as good a chance as any at toppling the basketball superpower.
Tale of the tape
FIBA ranks France No. 7 in the world, and Les Bleues were impressive in their exhibition games, winning all five matchups. So, they’re entering these Olympics in good form. It’s also not just a recent hot streak; they had a strong showing at the last Olympic games, winning the bronze medal by defeating Serbia 91-76.
France also has a homecourt advantage, with the games taking place in Lille and Paris. It’s difficult to quantify how much that will factor in, but one has to imagine it will, at the very least, give France a slight boost and could create a…
