OLYMPIC GAMES | BASKETBALL

When was the last time Team USA didn’t win the gold medal in women’s basketball in the Olympics?

The USWBNT face France in the final of the very last event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

DAMIEN MEYERAFP

On Saturday, Steph Curry and LeBron James starred as Team USA defeated France to win the gold medal in the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games. Less than 24 hours later, the exact same outcome could take place in the women’s tournament as the USBWNT face the host nation in the last event of the competition.

Team USA’s domination of Olympic basketball

As a result of their success, the American men have won the Olympic tournament 17 times in 20 appearances (85% win rate), missing the 1980 edition when the US led a number of countries in boycotting the Games in Moscow following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

The USBWNT’s numbers are almost as impressive (nine wins in 11 appearances, 81.8%), although they are skewed somewhat by comparison as a result of the women’s event making its first Olympic appearance 40 years after the men’s (1976 compared to 1936).

In any case, Team USA’s domination in women’s Olympic basketball is clear for all to see.

When was the last time the USWBNT lost an Olympic basketball game?

After ending up with a silver medal in the augural tournament, losing to the Soviet Union in the final, the US has quite an astonishing record, both in terms of medals and victories.

After their 1980 boycott, they have played 75 Olympic Games, 72 of which they have won. Of their three defeats overall, two were in 1972, with the other one coming in the semifinals of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

That means the last time the USWBNT were defeated in the Olympics was on August 5, 1992, when they lost to the Unified Team, the name used for the team of the former Soviet Union (minus the Balkan states), which had just broken up. That year, they took the bronze, the last time they failed to win the gold medal.

Team USA’s overall record in women’s Olympic basketball

Between the start of the 1996 Olympics and today, they have played 59 times and won on each occasion. On Sunday, they will be looking to win their eighth Olympic gold medal in a row, and their 10th in 12 appearances in the event. Bon chance, France.

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