Support truly
independent journalism
In the end, all of the boos, jeers and glittering French stardust in the world would still not have been nearly enough to stop this unbeatable force. The United States men’s basketball team are Olympic champions once again, winning their fifth straight gold medal against the hosts France at a raucous Bercy Arena in Paris. Led by Steph Curry and his dazzling late run of three-pointers in the closing minutes, the United States assembled a dream team for Paris and came away with the only prize that mattered. For Curry, this was personal too.
France gave it as good a shot as they could manage. The hosts had brought out the big guns in Paris, the giants of their Olympics in Teddy Riner and Leon Marchant sat alongside Thierry Henry courtside. In the stands, Emmanuel Macron arrived just in time for what was the hottest ticket in town on the final Saturday night of the Games. In front of them, they believed the towering Victor Wembanyama could become the biggest star of all, if the 20-year-old could lead the way to improbable glory and the biggest moment of what had already been a memorable Olympics.
And for a moment, when the majestic Wembanyama reached highest of all on a put-back to cut the USA’s lead to three points with three minutes remaining, the Bercy Arena trembled at the thought. Except, it only triggered one of the all-time closing stretches from a legend of the sport. Curry was inspired. He went from roaring at the French crowd, almost ripping the USA off his jersey, before putting them to sleep: his astonishing three through the reaching arms of two French defenders sealed victory before adding another from deep for good measure. Good night, he said.
Curry’s 24 points and final burst ensured he won his first Olympic gold, adding to four NBA titles. He had committed to joining Kevin Durant and LeBron James to bring the USA to the top of the world once more and this was why. “It is everything I imagined and more,” he said. And on the gold-clinching three, with two France defenders in his face: did he really believe it could go in? All I saw was the rim. I didn’t see who was in front of me. All I saw was that it was a late-clock situation,” Curry smiled. “But yeah, I impressed myself with that one too, for sure.”
“I had so much fun,” Durant said. “Steph had an out-of-body experience, nine threes last game, eight threes this game. I was just grateful to be a part of it.” Durant made history of his own with his fourth basketball gold at the Olympics, the most of all time, while James won his third. Both sparkled to keep the United States in front, with Durant scoring 15 and James 14 before Curry took over, just as he had done in the semi-final against Serbia.
It was the final everyone dreamed of since the start of the Olympics: the reigning champions against the hosts in a repeat of the gold medal final of three years ago in Tokyo. There were some key differences ahead of the rematch and after a triumphant two weeks for France at the Olympics, the Bercy Arena rocked to the tune of what was possible. Sat in front of some of France’s heroes from Paris 2024, Wembanyama had the chance to add to his growing legend at the age of just 20 years old.
He was the reason they arrived with hope and why the voices rising from the south bank carried such optimism. At 7’4” and already one of the biggest stars in the NBA after his standout rookie season, Wembanyama could make the difference against the best in the world. With his eight-foot wingspan and combination of mobility, coordination, power and accuracy, France had a weapon of their own against the USA’s star-studded roster. Wembanyama delivered too, with 26 points, but he was unable to complete the ‘Miracle on the Seine’.
The USA knew what was coming. They were booed coming onto the court, jeered with a level of intensity they are not used to. But James came out with that look in his eye, the fire still as hot at 39 while the golden shoes on his feet made clear what he was coming for. He set the tone with a dunk that brought a roar to remind the home crowd that there were plenty of USA fans in the house as well. In the first half there were moments where it appeared that nothing would be stopping him, as a spinning, driving lay-up through traffic extended USA’s lead.
But France hung on, always finding a way to respond. Wembanyama, in that unique, smooth style, buried a three for France’s first points, waving his arms wildly to get the crowd going even more. The unheralded Guerschon Yabusele continued his inspired run at the Olympics and typified France’s resilience, as well as the the contempt the USA were treated with. In particular, a towering, barging dunk of James left one of the greatest of all time lying on his back and almost brought the roof off. Yabusele also managed to direct a fading two-pointer at the buzzer to cut the USA’s lead to eighth at half-time.
But the USA managed to keep accelerating, and with the weapons they possessed France would have been prepared for their opponents putting scoring runs together. Curry was already shaking and baking as back-to-back threes stretched the USA’s lead to double digits ahead of the fourth, before a mistake from Anthony Edwards allowed France to cut the lead to six. Suddenly, Wembanyama was stretching to reduce the gap to three. But then Curry woke up, putting France back to sleep, ensuring a golden Games again for the USA.
