The United States remained on course for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in women’s basketball by reaching the Paris 2024 final.
The US stretched their Olympic winning run to 60 games as they beat Australia 85-64 in the semi-finals.
They led 45-27 at half-time and 66-40 at the end of the third quarter, before stretching their advantage to 30 points at one stage during the final quarter.
Breanna Stewart scored a game-high 16 points for the US while Jackie Young added 14.
The last time the US women’s team lost at the Olympics was in the semi-finals at Barcelona 1992, when they were beaten by a team from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The second semi-final on Friday proved to be a far closer contest as Belgium took France to overtime before the Games hosts clinched a nail-biting 81-75 victory in overtime.
The final will be played on Sunday (14:30 BST) and the US will also face France in the men’s final on Saturday (20:30 BST).
