France has never won the gold medal for Olympic basketball, and now they have the perfect chance to fight for it playing home in Paris as they’ve been hosting the competition this summer. Only problem is, they have to face none other than Team USA, the nation that has most won this silverware in the tournament’s history.
However, the French squad has some experience at this, as they are returning to the final for a second-consecutive Olympics after beating Germany 73-69 on Thursday. According to their main star Victor Wembanyama, this opportunity represents a “once-in-a-lifetime” moment to conquer glory.
The European side has settled for silver on three occasions in the past, which are 1948, 2000 and most recently in the Tokyo Games of 2021. Now, they are only 40 minutes away, in an ideal circumstance at home, from a coveted crown.
Pure emotion from Victor Wembanyama and the France team after advancing to the Gold Medal match pic.twitter.com/HbvLyDZs7S
— PropSwap (@PropSwap) August 8, 2024
“It’s a chance to write history even more,” said Wembanyama, who became last year’s top pick in the NBA draft and eventually went on to become last campaign’s Rookie of the Year after a powerful season with the San Antonio Spurs.
France has been producing some of the best players in the world in recent years, and this past Draft was proof of it, as another compatriot Zachary Risacher earned to the top selection and went to the Atlanta Hawks in June. Alex Sarr was then chosen as the second pick by the Washington Wizards.
“Of course, (it’s) some part of a dream come true. Big part of a goal we set ourselves months back,” 20-year-old Victor assured. “Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime goal. Maybe nobody can reproduce that, so we have got to take our chance.”
The seven-footer admitted to feeling very emotional throughout the competition. “Incredible, incredible moment. The fans made it hard for me not to cry,” he shared this Thursday after dropping 11 points to beat Germany in the semifinals.
“I thank them for being as they are and for enjoying it as much as they do — this chance, this thing that we’re all living,” Wembanyama expressed. “The national team, this jersey brings to us that different energy we can’t find anywhere else, and we can see it, how intense we’ve been the last two games. It’s something that we all feel.”
Team USA had to rally back from a 17-point deficit against Serbia to earn a spot in the Olympic Games finals against the hosts
With only 7:19 to the clock, Serbia was still leading by 11 points, and every American fan was biting off their fingernails. Nevertheless, Team USA showed true strength when they won a game where they only led for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, in contrast of their rivals 35:12 leading the score sheet.
“I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game,” said U.S. coach Steve Kerr. “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. They were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers out there.
“But they played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find. And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter, and they got it done.”
Now the Americans will fight for the gold in a dream matchup against France, which will serve as a gold-medal rematch from the Tokyo Games three years ago, where the U.S. won 87-82. Both Germany and Serbia will face each other earlier that Saturday for bronze.
