2012 Olympics: U.S. Women Take Fifth Straight Gold Medal

Both USA basketball teams are competing for gold but the women have beaten the men to the punch, taking down France to win yet another gold medal in one of the most historic runs by an Olympic basketball program.

Candace Parker led the charge for Team USA, as she was hungry for the gold right out of the gate. She finished with 21 points in the match and added 10 rebounds to boot. Her performance was complimented by those of Diana Taurusi and Sue Bird, who finished with 9 and 11 points respectively.

The gold medal is the fifth in a row and seventh overall for the women of Team USA, a mark that is unprecedented and unheard of before this. The last time Team USA didn’t win the gold medal in the Olympics, Candace Parker was 6 years old and WNBA Rookie of the Year Maya Moore was 3. Both are now gold medalists in the London 2012 Games.

The game was tight to start, but after the half, Team USA started to not just pull away but run away with the finale. France trailed by just 12 points at the halfway point but the American women came flying out of the gate in the third quarter, scoring 26 points and allowing just 12 to strengthen their lead to 63-37, a 26 point deficit.

The French had five players finish with zero points, which was a major factor to the blowout nature of the score.

It also didn’t help that the French shot just 10 percent from beyond the arc. In fact all across the board the shooting was awful for France, hitting just under 80 percent from the stripe and only 26 percent from the field. The Americans on the other hand weren’t too much better but in this case a mediocre performance shooting was more than what it took to get the gold.

One down, one to go is the mantra of Team USA basketball. The women have theirs and now it’s time for the men to get theirs (which they’ll attempt to do tomorrow morning at 9am). Five straight gold medals isn’t something to take lightly, it’s never been done in the history of women’s basketball at the Olympics and the American women are showing no signs of slowing down and it’s only a matter of time before we’re counting down the minutes to a sixth consecutive gold.

But for now, five will do these Olympic women just fine.