The United States remains in a tight battle for the most gold medals in Paris after day 15 of the 2024 Olympics.
The U.S. team, which entered the 15th day tied with China for the gold medal lead, won five Olympic titles Saturday, culminating in the USWNT’s recapture of gold and the men’s basketball team’s fifth consecutive medal.
But the United States still finished the day one gold medal behind China, which should set up a spectacular half-day of action before Sunday’s closing ceremony.
With the last full day of the Paris Games over, here’s a look back at the highlights of day 15:
USWNT reclaims gold with another 1-0 win
Team USA once again demonstrated its knack for winning tight, high-stakes games. After winning their first two games of the knockout stage 1-0 after overtime, the Americans again won the gold medal game 1-0. But this time, they found the opening goal much earlier.
In the 57th minute, Korbin Albert sent a perfect pass to Mallory Swanson, who timed her run perfectly to get past the Brazilian defense. The Chicago Red Stars forward didn’t let the dangerous opportunity pass, giving the United States the lead with her fourth goal of the Games.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher then stepped up for Team USA with a massive save in injury time. Naeher blocked Adriana’s header one-handed, all but sealing the Americans’ first Olympic gold medal since London 2012.
Steph Curry’s hot streak propels USA men’s basketball team to 5th straight gold medal
Steph Curry’s first appearance at the Olympics was iconic. The Golden State Warriors superstar made nine three-pointers and scored 36 points in Team USA’s comeback victory over Serbia in the semifinals. And he still hadn’t cooled off days later.
An epic three-point barrage from Curry lifted the Americans to a 98-87 victory over Victor Wembanyama and France in the men’s basketball gold medal game. France cut the score to 82-79 at the 2:58 mark of the fourth quarter after trailing by 14 points earlier in the second. Then, Curry responded with four three-pointers on the next five American possessions to hold off France’s late attack. Curry made eight three-pointers en route to a team-high 24 points, lifting the Americans to their fifth consecutive gold medal.
LeBron James, FIBA’s tournament MVP, scored 14 points, had 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds to win his third Olympic gold medal and fourth overall. Kevin Durant, who had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, broke a tie with Carmelo Anthony for the most gold medals in men’s basketball with four.
USA breaks records by eliminating women’s and men’s 4x400m relays
The United States won gold in both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays in record times, although the Olympic titles were won in two very different ways.
The men’s relay, which featured Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin, came down to a final showdown between American 400m gold medalist Benjamin and Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo. The two runners received the baton at roughly the same time, but it was Benjamin who crossed the line first in an Olympic record time of 2:54.43 — ahead of Tebogo in 2:54.53.
The women’s relay, meanwhile, wasn’t exactly spectacular. The U.S. team’s quartet of Shamier Little, Gabby Thomas, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Alexis Holmes broke the American record with a time of 3:15.27. Not only did they narrowly miss the world record, but the Americans also finished above the world record. four seconds ahead of the Netherlands, second.
This is the eighth consecutive Olympic title for the U.S. team in the women’s relay and the third consecutive title in the men’s relay.
Masai Russell wins 100m hurdles gold in photo finish
The women’s 110m hurdles final was the last event of the Paris Games to end on a very close note, and it was an American who emerged victorious. Masai Russell claimed her first Olympic title with a photo finish, narrowly crossing the line ahead of France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela.
How close was the final? Russell clocked 12.33 seconds, while Samba-Mayela finished in 12.34 seconds.
Grant Fisher wins historic 5000m bronze
Grant Fisher didn’t win a medal in his Olympic debut at the pandemic-postponed Tokyo 2020 Games. But he will leave Paris with a reputation as a historic double medallist.
Fisher took advantage of a thrilling finish to claim a podium finish in the men’s 5,000m. In the final stretch of the 12.5-lap final, Fisher passed several runners before crossing the line in third place in 13:15.13.
After winning bronze in the 10,000m earlier at the 2024 Olympics, Fisher became the first American to medal in both the 5,000m and 10,000m events at the same Games.
