Fiba Women’s Basketball World Cup final: USA v France – live

Americans chasing fifth consecutive titleReese and Clark celebrate their ‘chemistry’Email beau.dure@theguardian.com with your thoughtsThe most-anticipated rematch since Rocky Balboa faced Apollo Creed for the second time is about to go down in Berlin.This US women’s basketball team’s success has long been taken for granted. Since the Olympic boycott in 1980, we can literally count the team’s losses in World Cup and Olympic championships on one hand, and two of those were in the team’s silver medal campaign in the 1983 World Cup. They lost in the semifinals of the 1992 Olympics to their traditional rival Unified Team, then in the semifinals of the 1994 World Cup to Brazil. Since then, they’ve gone 121-1, with the sole blemish being the 2006 World Cup semifinal against Russia. At the game’s top levels, they’ve won 71 straight. Continue reading...

≈