USA wins gold in women’s basketball, volleyball
SAITAMA, JAPAN >> Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi walked off the basketball court together, arm-in-arm, one last time at the Tokyo Games.
They started their journey together five Olympics ago and ended it in the same fashion as always — with gold medals hanging around their necks.
“All of what we’ve done for USA Basketball, we’ve done together. It’s fitting,” Bird said after the 9075 win over Japan on Sunday.
And now it’s over — at least for the 40-year-old Bird.
“The best comparison is college since you know it’s the end,” Bird said. “Now I always have a wonderful feeling and a great taste in my mouth my senior year. That’s how it is with USA Basketball.”
All she and Taurasi have done on the international stage is win and now the pair stands alone with five gold medals — the first basketball players ever to accomplish that feat.
“It’s 20 years and people only get to see these moments,” Taurasi said. “We’re on these trips every day together. every conversation. This means a lot to us.”
While Bird is retiring from international basketball, Taurasi left the door open after the game in her on-court interview that she’ll play in Paris in 2024.
She isn’t actually certain she’ll play, saying: “We’ll see.”
But, Bird threw a quick jab at her 39-year-old friend for even considering it.
“Hahaha, idiot,” Bird said laughing while standing next to Taurasi and talking with The Associated Press.
The U.S. has now won the last seven Olympic gold medals matching the country’s men’s program for the most ever 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., 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.
Women’s Volleyball
TOKYO >> Jordan Larson fell to the floor, put her head in her hands and cried after Brazil couldn’t return her spike on match point.
The frustration of being so close
but not quite good enough was replaced by a feeling of relief after the U.S. women’s volleyball team finally claimed Olympic gold with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 victory over Brazil on Sunday.
“I’m just still in a state of shock,” Larson said. “I cried more in the last 24 hours than I think I have in my career. I’m not an emotional player, an emotional person. But I think just the emotions got the best of me. I’m now in kind of this euphoria, a state of shock.”
The United States, which had won three silver medals and two bronze since first getting on the medal stand in 1984, got to the top step by beating the team that denied it a chance at gold in the final match of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Larson, who was part of that silver-winning team in 2012 and the bronze medal team five years ago, paved the way with her leadership on the court and her strong play on the attack and on defense.
Larson and middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, who both came back for a third Olympics after falling short in Rio de Janeiro, now have a complete medal collection following what is expected to be the final Olympic match of their careers.
“I couldn’t write a better story for her,” setter Jordy Poulter said about Larson delivering the winning point. “Her and Fouke have put so much time into this program and been through thick and thin. To be on this journey with them has been incredible.”
The victory also allowed U.S. coach Karch Kiraly to join Lang Ping of China as the second person to win gold as a volleyball player and then lead a country to gold as coach. Kiraly won gold indoor as a player in 1984 and 1988. He also won gold in beach volleyball in 1996.
Baseball
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN >> A Japanese team of All-Stars fulfilled a determined national mission to win the Olympic baseball gold medal for the first time, beating the United States 2-0 Saturday night behind Munetaka Murakami’s third-inning home run.
Masato Morishita and four relievers combined on a six-hitter, and the Japanese men (5-0) matched the accomplishment of the women’s softball team, which upended the Americans for their second straight gold medal.
Several hundred people who appeared to be Olympic volunteers cheered on Japan in a largely empty 34,000-capacity Yokohama Stadium, some wearing orange Japan jerseys and matching facemasks on the warm and humid night.
America, the nation that introduced baseball to Japan in 1872, finished 4-2. Teams were denied access to all 40-man roster players and many eligible top prospects by Major League Baseball and its clubs, hindering the U.S. and other countries whose top players are in MLB.
Murakami, at 21 the youngest player in Japan’s starting lineup but already a two-time All-Star in four seasons with the Central League’s Yakult Swallows, reached out for an 85.2 mph offspeed pitch with a 2-2 count from Nick Martinez (1-1). He drove the ball to the opposite field, over the 16-foot wall in left-center, and Martinez winced as it landed in the fourth row of the empty blue seats.