For almost three decades, the Americans have been an ever-present obstacle standing between the Australian women’s basketball team and greatness. At the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, the United States defeated Australia in the semi-finals (the Opals subsequently won their first-ever Olympic bronze). In the gold medal match at Sydney 2000, one of the last events of the home Games for Australia, it was the USA who spoiled the party, with an emphatic 22-point win.
Four years later, in Athens, the gold medal rematch saw the same result – although the Opals reduced the losing margin to 11 points. Another Olympics, another loss to the USA. At the Beijing Games in 2008, the Australians were forced to settle for their third consecutive silver medal, behind the Americans. In London, the teams met in the semi-final: another American victory, the Opals going on to claim bronze. An early exit in Rio spared the Australians yet another encounter with the USA. Normalcy was restored in Tokyo: the nations faced each other in the quarter-finals, and the Americans won resoundingly.
