The 2024 Olympic Games are in the books.
After Team USA cruised through their first five games of the women’s 5×5 basketball competition, the gold medal final against France proved to be the toughest of the Americans’ 61-straight Olympic wins. Nevertheless, the United States survived to claim an eighth-straight gold medal, leaving France with silver. Australia earned the bronze over Belgium.
Here are Swish Appeal’s final takeaways from the Paris Games:
Team USA is human after all
Yes, Team USA won the gold. The victory makes it 61 in a row in Olympic play and a record eight-straight golds. Still, the margin of victory was one point, leaving me wary of the future. Like a person barely making ends meet, we survived another month. But what about the next? France pushed Team USA to the brink, and in four years, where will the rest of the world be? I shudder to think about the 61-game streak ending on our land after accomplishing everything USA Basketball has over these last few decades.
Sunday night, Monday morning and maybe even a few days after, these women should celebrate as much as they’d like. However, if you needed a wake-up call that the rest of the world is coming, this is it. The men have already experienced this, losing games here and there and failing to…
