The United States held off France 67-66 to win an unprecedented eighth successive women's Olympic basketball gold on Sunday and extend their run of victories at the tournament to 61 games.

On Saturday, the US men's team led by LeBron James took the gold against France as well with a 98-87 victory in the French capital.

They women were pushed to their very limits, but the USA's impressive gold medal-winning streak continues. An incredibly tight contest came down to the final minute of play, where the USA simply executed on the offensive end, and France didn't.

With roughly 30 seconds to go France had the chance to cut the USA's lead to one or even tie with a three, but an ill-advised shot from Marine Fauthoux was blocked by Breanna Stewart. It then became a free-throw game, with France now having to foul to stop the clock and hope that the USA would miss.

Though despite the cauldron of noise coming their way, the USA came up clutch at the line to extend their lead.  A three-pointer by Williams brought France within 1 with 3.8 seconds left, but more free throws from Kahleah Copper gave the USA a three-point lead. 

Incredibly, Williams hit another shot as time expired that sent the audience into raptures as they thought she had tied the game - but she was just inside the three-point line, meaning the USA win 67-66 in a game for the ages. 

The French fans inside Bercy Arena were stunned - but only for a moment as the realisation of what their team had achieved in pushing the giants of women's basketball right to the brink began to sink in. The crowd stood as one to applaud both sets of players, with especially loud cheers for Les Bleus who were, understandably, emotional at the final buzzer.

Williams was incredible for France, scoring 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. A'ja Wilson was unstoppable for the USA, scoring 21 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking four shots. 

The USA win their 10th gold medal and eighth in a row, with Diana Taurasi (who didn't play in the final) earning a sixth gold medal - a record for an athlete at the Games in any team sport.

Silver goes to France, who finish on the podium for a second consecutive Games following the bronze they won at Tokyo 2020. Australia take the bronze after beating Belgium in the day's earlier game.

In the battle for the Bronze, just in another instant classic of a women's basketball game, Australia beat Belgium 85-81.

Australia’s win was based on their famed defence, as they shut down their opponents' attacks late in the game. The Opals grabbed 44 rebounds to Belgium’s 31, with Ezi Magbegor leading the scoring with 30 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. It is Australia's first podium finish since 2012.

In their second Olympic appearance, this is the Belgium women's basketball team's best finish. Team MPV Emma Meesseman had another stand-out game, contributing 23 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

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