The stories of the female athletes at this summer’s Games centered mostly on the Olympic teams in gymnastics, soccer and track and field, but another team was just winning.
The U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team won their seventh consecutive goal medal with a 90-75 win over China on Sunday. The streak combines the longest gold medal streak in any sport. The team lost a game against the WNBA All-Stars 93-85 in early July this summer.
The team is one of the most dominant in sports history, going 70-3 in the Olympic game. You have not lost an Olympic game since 1992 and have not lost a tournament since 2006. The team has won 55 Olympic Games in a row.
Hewad Coach Dawn Staley, the first black woman to coach the team, picked up her sixth goal medal to go with the two she has as an assistant coach and three more as a former player. Staley, who has announced it will be her final Olympics as a coach, also has a national championship on her name.
The National Anthem plays for the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team at the Olympic Games once again 🇺🇸 @TeamUSA @usabasketball #OlympicHERstory #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/Iok3yhOeds
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2021
In announcing her retirement from the Olympic team, Staley paid tribute to her players and the coaches and players who preceded them.
“The start of this win came before them, but they finished it,” Staley said, according to ESPN. “You took it to another level. They put so much pressure on the next coach and the next players to play at a high level. “
Many believe that Staley, one of the most successful basketball coaches in the United States, should be the first female coach in the NBA.
Teammates Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird were the first teammates to collectively win five Olympic medals. The two women have been good friends since college, where they played together at the University of Connecticut in 2000 and 2001. You played together professionally in Russia too.
Center Sylvia Fowles, who also calls it a career after these Olympic Games, took home the fourth gold medal of her career.
“I tore myself up on the pitch because this is my last. Just to see the circle come full circle from teen to veteran, ”Fowles said, according to Yahoo News. “I’m just trying to soak up the moment, even though we don’t have a family here, but to show everyone that it’s still the same, that I enjoyed it and I’m very grateful for the experience.”
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