Bird and Taurasi seek their fifth Olympic gold medal against Japan

Saitama, Japan (AFP) – So Bird’s 17-year Olympics ends on Sunday.

She hopes to win a historic fifth consecutive gold when the United States meets Japan in the women’s basketball final at the Olympic Games. Bird and his partner, Diana Torassi, have been major assets to American hegemony in the last five games.

Taurasi hasn’t officially said if he will end his career with the national team, but it would be hard to imagine a 39-year-old goalkeeper at the top without Bird.

They are the two most decorated players in women’s Olympic basketball history. They beat Teresa Edwards, who won four golds and one bronze. Bird and Torassi never lost a game in the summer tournament, setting a record 37-0.

Now they only have one match against a team they beat by 17 points in the group stage. Japan coach Tom Hovasi said when he took office four and a half years ago that his team would play with the United States for the gold medal in Tokyo. And I would defeat them.

You have already completed the first part of the mission, but you know that completing it will not be easy.

“It will take the best match we’ve played in our lives,” he said after his team’s semi-final victory over France. “Obviously a bit of luck here and there. We need to focus on all aspects from the start to the end of the game. We have a chance.”

But America has a bird and a Taurasi.

The couple has a brotherly relationship. They admit they have had their differences over the years, but according to Bird, it’s usually because of something silly.

“We might be a little pissed, but after a day or two, either of us apologize and we turn the page,” Baird said.