USA captures seventh gold in row
Bird, Taurasi say farewell in style in 90-75 rout of Japan in finale
SAITAMA, Japan — Sue Bird capped off her unblemished 17-year Olympics run with a record fifth gold medal.
All she and longtime U.S. teammate Diana Taurasi have done on the international stage is win and now stand alone with five gold medals — the first basketball players to accomplish that feat — after a 90-75 win Saturday night against Japan.
The U.S. team now has won the past seven Olympic gold medals matching the country’s men’s program for the most in a row. The men did it from 1936-68.
With Bird orchestrating the flow of games and Taurasi’s scoring, they have been a constant force for the U.S. team, providing stability for the women’s program since the 2004 Athens Games. They have won all 38 of the games at the Olympics they’ve competed in.
The walked off the court arm-in-arm, knowing their work was done.
The names have changed around the pair, including greats Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, Tamika Catchings and Sylvia Fowles, but the results haven’t.
The Americans are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak dating to the bronzemedal game of the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The U.S. team let Japan know that wasn’t going to change Saturday night.
The Americans jumped to a 18-5 lead behind a dominant first quarter by Brittney Griner. The team lead, 23-14, after one as Griner had 10 points, taking advantage of the undersized Japanese team. Japan was able to get within six in the second quarter before the Americans went up 11 at the half and never looked back.
As the final buzzer sounded, Bird and Taurasi embraced and then proceeded to hug all of their teammates and the coaching staff.
Griner finished with 30 points, making 14 of 18 shots.
While Bird has said she is moving on and Taurasi has been noncommittal about her plans, the future is bright for the U.S. team behind Griner, Breanna Stewart and the six newcomers on this year’s team. That included A’ja Wilson, who will be counted on to keep the streak going three years from now at the 2024 Paris Games. Wilson, who celebrates her 25th birthday Sunday, made her presence felt in her Olympic debut, scoring 19 points in the gold-medal game.
But there were other milestones of note besides Bird’s farewell.
The victory also made Dawn Staley, the first Black women’s basketball coach for the U.S. team, the second woman to win a gold medal as a player, assistant and head coach, joining Anne Donovan.
The game also marked the end of Carol Callan’s run as the national team director.