TOKYO, Japan — The USA women's basketball team won their seventh Olympic gold medal in a row, marking an unparalleled reign for the American women over international hoops.
Remarkably, two members of the team have been there for nearly the entirety of that run.
For basketball legends Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, the gold medal was their fifth as members of the Olympic team - more than any other American woman or man, or anyone else for that matter.
The 90-75 win over Olympic hosts Japan in Tokyo marked the perfect sendoff for Bird, who had already announced this would be her final go at the Olympics.
Taurasi, at 39, has not announced publicly whether she plans to make one last Olympic trip in 2024 in Paris, when she would be 42.
Taurasi and Bird first competed together in an Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece - and amazingly they have won all 38 Olympic games they've played in as teammates.
The walked off the court Sunday arm-in-arm, knowing their work was done.
The names have changed around the pair, including greats Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, Tamika Catchings and Sylvia Fowles, but the results haven’t.
The Americans are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak dating back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The U.S. let Japan know that wasn’t going to change on Sunday.
The future is bright for the U.S. behind Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and the six newcomers on this year’s team. That included A’ja Wilson, maybe the brightest young star in women's basketball, who will be counted on to keep the streak going three years from now at the 2024 Paris Games. Wilson, who celebrated her 25th birthday on Sunday, made her presence felt in her Olympic debut, scoring 19 points in the gold medal game.