New York Liberty dominates at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
Wed, August 14, 2024, 9:53 p.m.
The Libs competed in the 2024 Olympics against Paris and represented NYC to the utmost by dominating women’s basketball.
Sabrina Ionescu (Sab) and Breanna Stewart (Stewie) competed in red, white and blue for Team USA, while Leonie Fiebich (Leo) and Nyara Sabally (Nyny) represented their home country with Team Germany. Coach Sandy Brondello led her home country as head coach for Team Australia, while Marine Johannes (MJ) and Marine Fauthoux represented Team France.
Although Germany did not win a medal, the team made history: it was the first German team to qualify for the knockout round and applied to take part in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 1970s.
Leo and Nyara both had a big impact on Germany, averaging double-digit scores (Leo: 10.3 PPG, Nyara: 18 PPG). In her last game, Nyny didn’t give up without a fight and secured a double-double for the German team with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Winning Olympic medals was nothing new to Coach Sandy. He played for the Australian national team that won the country’s first medal in 1996. However, Australia suffered a defeat in the semi-finals, being outclassed by the US national team and familiar opponents Sab and Stewie. They were able to fight back against Belgium in the bronze medal match and come out on top!
The highly anticipated gold medal game lived up to expectations! The USA vs. France game kept fans on the edge of their seats for four quarters in which few points were scored as the USA fought back from a double-digit deficit at halftime.
Sab became the difference maker this team needed, helping them go on a 10-3 run with less than 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Stewie’s dagger-like block with 20 seconds left prevented France from scoring a three-pointer to tie the game and settle for the silver medal, resulting in a 67-66 loss.
Named to FIBA’s five Olympic All-Stars, Stewie was one of two U.S. players to average double-digit scoring for Team USA: 16.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.7 BPG. Her efforts helped secure Team USA’s historic eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal!
Congratulations to all our Olympians. A big shout out to Sab for her first of many gold medals to come and to Stewie for her third gold medal.
