Belgium and Australia will play for a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics this Sunday, Aug. 11. The third-place game in the women’s 5×5 basketball tournament will tip-off at 5:30 a.m. ET and can be streamed digitally via Peacock.
Belgium has already made history by making the bronze medal game, having bowed out in the first round of the women’s basketball tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the country’s first-ever Olympic appearance. In that one-point loss to eventual silver medalists Japan, it was clear that the international basketball world had not seen the last of the Belgians, and that given good health, they’d be back and better in 2024.
It’s safe to say that’s come to fruition. In Paris, Belgium officially has taken that next step, ranking third among competing teams in points per game (76.4) and second in field goal percentage (46.8 percent) thanks to a roster with several talented playmakers and shooters. Look no further than Belgium’s passing statistics to get an idea of why they’ve been so good: four of their players are averaging at least four assists per game (Emma Meesseman, Julie Vanloo, Antonia Delaere and Elise Ramette), a surefire indication of an unselfish group that doesn’t need any one player to dominate the basketball in order…
