U.S. and China combat to 40-40 draw for many Olympic gold medals

The U.S. and China every received 40 gold medals within the first Summer season Video games attract Olympic historical past, with the People pulling right into a tie Sunday with victory within the final occasion, girls’s basketball.

The U.S. equaled China on the energy of its heart-stopping 67-66 victory over France in an incredibly shut recreation for the ladies’s hoops gold.

China entered Sunday with a 39-38 edge on the U.S., with the People showing to have a slight benefit because the U.S. was going for its eighth consecutive girls’s basketball gold and second straight girls’s volleyball title.

A flurry of outcomes unfolded within the midafternoon to form the ultimate standings.

• China’s Li Wenwen received gold in girls’s heavyweight weightlifting in what may have been a loss of life knell for American hopes to seize general gold.
• U.S. hopes had been dimmed additional when Chicago native Kennedy Blades, who made a stunning run to the gold medal wrestling match, misplaced to 76-kg rival Yuka Kagami of Japan.
• In a shocking blow, Italy spiked the U.S. out of the gymnasium with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 blowout volleyball victory.
• Adorned bike owner Jennifer Valente, of San Diego, bailed out the U.S. by defending her gold within the girls’s omnium.

That set it up for the closely favored U.S. girls to maintain enterprise, which they barely did to win their eighth straight gold.

“I wasn’t conscious till somebody instructed me after the sport, however I am glad that we received for ourselves and USA basketball, but additionally for your complete Workforce USA delegation so we will be tied,” WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart instructed reporters after the gold medal recreation.

U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve wryly smiled and stated she had recognized what was at stake coming into the France recreation however implied that she didn’t inform gamers.

“I noticed the medal depend beforehand, I did,” she stated, smiling. “That is what we want, extra stress.”

The final time the U.S. did not win probably the most summer time golds was in Beijing in 2008, when the hosts edged the Americas in top-podium visits, 48-36.

Whereas there had been no gold medal ties in Summer season Video games historical past, there have been three attracts within the Winter Olympics.

The newest draw was between Norway and Germany, every profitable 14 golds in PyeongChang 2018.

The U.S. nonetheless got here out with probably the most general medals, taking dwelling 126 from Paris this yr.

The U.S. hasn’t didn’t win probably the most medals since 1992, when the “Unified Workforce,” athletes from the previous Soviet Union republics, received 112 medals, together with 45 golds. The People made 108 podium visits in Barcelona, with 37 of them on the highest step.

The 40 golds out of 329 occasions work out to taking prime honors 12.1 % of the time. That’s up barely from Tokyo (11.4%) however down from Rio (15%) and London (15.8%).

America’s effort in Paris is likely to be finest exemplified by U.S. swimmers who received probably the most medals and golds however got here away feeling that they’d left {hardware} on the deck.

Whereas veteran Katie Ledecky was the U.S. star right here, with two golds, a silver and a bronze, the present was stolen by Frenchman Léon Marchand, who scored 4 golds, a bronze and 4 Olympic information, and Canadian prodigy Summer season McIntosh, with three golds and a silver.

Regardless of the athletic rivalry, the U.S. and China do not match up in lots of occasions. One of many few locations the place they face off on equal footing is within the pool.

Probably the most necessary moments of the 40-40 draw got here per week in the past Sunday, when China received the 4×100-meter medley relay on the energy of 100 freestyle ace Pan Zhanle, who edged out the silver medalist People.

“It wasn’t a foul meet in any respect,” U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel stated of his staff.

“The aim after we come to the Olympics and the world championships is to win gold medals. There are different nations which are getting very dominant — Australia and U.S. are the 2 most acknowledged. However from these Video games, I noticed lots from Italy, China, France. So the wealth has simply been unfold round. I do not assume we’re getting any worse, per se.”

A number of nations that usually do not get inside a javelin’s throw of the rostrum produced a number of medalists these previous two weeks.

Earlier than it landed in Paris, Israel held solely 13 Summer season Olympic medals — collected seven right here.

Ecuador received 5 medals, greater than doubling its general summer time whole.

Kyrgyzstan made six podium journeys, which is spectacular given the central Asian nation got here to Paris with solely seven Olympic medals in historical past.

Earlier than Paris 2024, Moldova had received six in nationwide historical past. The tiny former Soviet republic made 4 podium journeys in Paris.

— NBC Information’ David Okay. Li reported from Paris and Sean Nevin from London.