PARIS (France) – Worthy de Jong hit a shot for the ages to lift Netherlands past host France, while Germany edged Spain in a heartstopper as the teams became 3×3 Olympic gold medalists at the Paris Games on August 8.
To cap a dramatic seven-day tournament, de Jong hit a contested fadeaway two on the right side to give the Netherlands a 18-17 triumph that silenced a crowd whipped into a frenzy all game.
Continuing a tournament where many big names attended, IOC president Thomas Bach was courtside on the final day along with FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis, King of Spain Felipe VI and Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands.
Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Jorge Garbajosa and Carmelo Anthony were also in attendance.
In an absorbing men’s final, the atmosphere was at a feverish level as nothing separated the teams. A two from Franck Seguela tied the scores at 10 apiece as the decider went down to the wire.
Dutch scoring machine de Jong tied the scores once again with a layup as Timothe Vergiat missed a two-point shot at the buzzer. It came down to OT with Vergiat putting France on the brink before de Jong’s heroics sealed the Netherlands’ place in the history books. De Jong finished with 7 points and 9 highlights.
Netherlands entered red-hot after dismantling Lithuania in the semis 20-9, while France stormed into the final after upsetting Tokyo gold medalist Latvia, who had been undefeated up to the semis.
In the men’s bronze medal, hot shooting from Sarunas Vingelis powered Lithuania to a stunning 21-18 win over Latvia.
It was a bitter disappointment for Latvia, who won all seven games in the pool play but could not reach the podium for the second straight time at the Olympics.
In the women’s final, it was a rematch of the Europe Cup 2021 final in Paris with Germany coming up trumps on this occasion after an epic 17-16 victory.
Gracia Alonso de Armiño was in an aggressive mood early and helped Spain build an early buffer. But as they’ve shown countless times throughout a barnstorming tournament, Germany stormed back with a two from superstar Sonja Greinacher pulling back Spain’s lead to 12-10.
It was a nail biter finish with a pretty layup from Elisa Mevius tying the scores at 15 apiece.
A two from Greinacher put Germany ahead and they held on after a miss from Gracia Alonso to tie the scores on the buzzer. It was an outpouring of emotion from the German players and faithful, including a beaming Nowitzki.
Spain qualified to the final after an 18-16 OT upset over defending gold medalist USA.
Germany backed up after a dramatic 16-15 victory over Canada, where Greinacher hit the go-ahead bucket to cap an outstanding 11-point haul.
In the women’s bronze medal game, USA held off Canada 16-13 in a battle of North American powerhouses. Superstar Hailey Van Lith finished a strong tournament with 6 points and 5 highlights to ensure the mighty hoops nation did not go home empty-handed.
Final standings
Men
1. Netherlands
2. France
3. Lithuania
4. Latvia
5. Serbia
6. Poland
7. USA
8. China
Women
1. Germany
2. Spain
3. USA
4. Canada
5. Australia
6. China
7. Azerbaijan
8. France
