Sports Burst - USWNT: End of an Era?
Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd deliver bronze medal for USWNT in what could be last games for country
By Tim Stannard
USWNT beats Australia 4-3 in bronze medal match after two goals each for Rapinoe and Lloyd
It wasn't the gold medal which was what was both predicted and demanded, but the USWNT will leave the Tokyo Olympics with a bronze, at least, after a heck of a match against Australia.
The US won through 4-3 against Australia and it was two legends of the team who will put them on a very long podium after Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd scored two goals each, including one directly from a corner for Rapinoe. Lloyd has now scored 10 goals in the Olympic Games in total.
The question now is whether the pair will play for the USWNT again and hang up some cleats after two remarkable careers that include World Cup and Olympic Games gold medal wins. Rapinoe is 36, while Carli Lloyd is 39 and the next major event on the women's calendar is not for another two years with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
You can catch some top class women's club soccer on beIN SPORTS on Friday with the closing games of the AMOS Women's French Cup. It's a fierce all-French affair in the third-place playoff with PSG taking on Lyon followed by the final where Bayern Munich will play Roma. The action gets underway for free on Friday on beIN XTRA at 11:50AM ET / 8:50AM PT.
Team USA moves through to basketball final
Sports Burst will stay with good news from the Olympics before ending with what is being hailed as a national embarrassment by a couple of track and field legends.
The men's basketball team, rather like the USWNT, is both expected and predicted to win the gold medal and cleared the final challenge to the final with a semifinal victory on Thursday morning. Rather like the USWNT, Australia were the opponents and were dispatched with a 97-78 victory.
However, Team USA didn't have all their own way and were 15 points down to the Boomers in the second quarter before closing down the gap. "I've got to give credit to Australia," said Kevin Durant, "they came out and hit us with a nice haymaker."
Team USA will play either France or Slovenia in the final.
Carl Lewis slams "total embarrassment" in sprint relay failure
Time to end with the bad news. The USA should be vacuuming up the medals in the sprint events at the Olympics, but have instead completely sucked in one major event today. The heats were taking place for the men's 4 x 100 meters relay but the US finished in sixth, falling at the first hurdle in a purely figuratively manner.
Two gentlemen more than qualified to pour scorn on the result have shared their views on social media with Carl Lewis branding the performance "a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable."
Michael Johnson was equally as scathing, chiming in with "embarrassing and ridiculous" and noting that "trying to get two people running full speed to exchange a baton within a 20-meter zone requires practice."