Half a fateful foot caused China to be dethroned by the US at the Olympics
•20/10/2024
The medal race between the US and China at the Paris Olympics is considered the most exciting and dramatic in the history of the Olympics.
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Except for the 2008 Beijing Olympics when it played host, the Chinese sports delegation has always finished behind the US throughout the history of the Olympics. However, the medal competition between the US and China has never been less attractive. At the Tokyo Olympics, the US won first place with 39 gold medals, just 1 more than China. And in this year's tournament, the race is even more fierce, when both sports delegations have to wait until the last day, in the last competition, to determine the number one position.
The US women's basketball team's gold medal helps the US sports delegation surpass China
NBC
Before the women's basketball final (one of the final events in the Olympics) between the US and France, the Chinese sports delegation led the overall rankings with 40 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 24 bronze medals (a total of 91 medals), while the US had 39 gold medals, 44 silver medals and 42 bronze medals (a total of 125 medals). The US had more medals overall, but ranked below China due to fewer gold medals. To surpass China, the US had to win a gold medal in women's basketball to bring its total to 40 gold medals, equal to China. At that time, the US would take the top spot with more medals overall. Basketball has long been the exclusive "territory" of the Americans, when both the men's and women's teams of the land of the stars and stripes have absolutely dominated the Olympics. Before the women's basketball final against host France, most opinions said that the US would win overwhelmingly. The day before in the men's basketball final, the US beat France by 11 points. However, in the final match on the morning of August 12, things were not that simple.
The host France (in white) played very hard.
NBC
The US easily dominated the first half, leading 15-9, but in the second half, France rose strongly. Marine Fauthoux and Valeriane Ayayi played extremely well, helping France tie the score at 25-25. Without the direct coordination to dunk like the US, France applied the three-point shooting strategy and achieved impressive results. The long-range shots of the host France made the match fall into a stalemate from the third quarter. France led 35-25 in this quarter, but the US still fought back bravely to tie the score at 33-35, then even though France led 40-35, the US played impressively to turn the game around, leading 45-43. The defending champion scored 10 points in a row to gain the advantage before the final quarter. Until the last minutes of the fourth quarter, the US still could not decide the match, when the score was 65-64. Then the US had two free throws with the last four seconds to lead 67-64. Then the drama happened at the last second. France's Gabby Williams hit an impressive three-pointer to tie the score at 67-67. If the score remained the same, the two teams would continue to play overtime.
Gabby Williams (in white) stepped on the line with half of her foot, causing France to lose regrettably.
However, fate was on the Americans' side. Slow motion showed that when Gabby Williams jumped to shoot a three-pointer, half of her foot was on the line. Because the shot was made in the semicircle, France only got two points, so they lost 66-67. As for the Americans, this was a gold medal won by an extremely fragile margin, when France was chasing very closely. Thanks to the gold medal in women's basketball, the Americans overtook China at the decisive moment with 40 gold medals, 44 silver medals and 42 bronze medals (a total of 126 medals), while China came in second with 40 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 24 bronze medals. The opportunity to surpass the Americans for the first time after 16 years of waiting was out of reach for Chinese sports because of... half a fateful foot.
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