Ionescu savors first taste of Olympic gold

Liberty star headed home after thrilling Paris Games

August 13, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Draped in red, white and blue, Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu celebrated winning her first Olympic gold medal in Paris on Sunday. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill

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For Sabrina Ionescu, there was no chance to soak it all in until it was finally over.

When France’s Gabby Williams made a potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer that momentarily sent the crowd of 12,126 fans into a wild frenzy Sunday morning at Paris’ Bercy Stadium, very few players on Team USA realized that they had secured a gold medal.

Until they did.

Williams’ foot was on the 3-point line instead of outside of it, leaving French fans hoping for overtime to lament what could have been while the Americans basked in capturing their eighth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball with a spine-tingling 67-66 triumph.

And then it began to sink in for Ionescu, the New York Liberty’s All-Star guard and midseason WNBA Most Valuable Player candidate.

“This is a program that has always sort of made it look easy. But I always said it’s not,” Ionescu insisted after her first-ever Olympic experience came to a dramatic end that resulted in her bringing gold back to Downtown Brooklyn.

“For me it wasn’t really about not losing it, it was like, I want to go put a gold medal around my neck, because if I had silver, it would still be [left] here,” she added.

Ionescu had three assists, two rebounds and missed her lone shot in 10 minutes off the bench during the historic final, hardly the gaudy statistics she has put up during the Liberty’s league-best 21-4 start to the WNBA season.

But the reigning two-time Eastern Conference Player of the Month knew she was playing behind women who had captured multiple golds, including Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart, who made it three in a row in Paris.

“Eight straight golds is insane honestly,” said Stewart, who finished with eight points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots against the French.

“Each one is so different, and so, so special and so, so hard,” she added.

Liberty forward and reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart helped point Team USA to its eighth straight gold medal in Paris. AP Photo by Michael Conroy

A’ja Wilson led the U.S. attack with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper added 12 points apiece as the Americans extended their winning streak in Olympic competition to 61 games, dating to a loss to Russia in the 1992 Barcelona semifinals.

Knotted at halftime in the low-scoring affair, Team USA gave up 10 straight points to begin the third quarter. That had the French players and the crowd in Paris believing it was time for a new Olympic champion.

But Ionescu and her teammates dug in for their greatest challenge in the biggest international game of her career.

“I don’t think any of us were startled or lost composure,” Ionescu said of the 35-25 deficit.
“We were playing a really good France team in France. We understood they were going to have the crowd, everyone behind them. That room sometimes feels bigger when you have that.”

It didn’t feel too big for long.

Plum drained a 3-pointer, Wilson followed with a layup and Plum connected from long range again to cut the deficit to two points.

Ionescu got into the act toward the end of the third quarter, feeding Napheesa Collier for a pair of layups that gave the U.S. a 43-40 advantage.

Former Liberty sharp-shooter Marine Johannes answered with a 3-pointer for France before Wilson gave the U.S. the lead entering the final period with a pair of free throws.

Stewart’s two shots from the charity stripe with 3:45 left to play edged Team USA in front, 56-55.

The Americans would not trail again or be tied despite the best efforts of the French, who got within a few inches of extending the final game of the tournament.

“The parity of women’s basketball is just only continuing to grow,” Stewart said. “So I think, you know, we know it’s not easy.”

Neither does Ionescu, who nearly watched her first Olympic experience end without a gold medal.

France’s Gabby Williams watched her desperation heave go in, but her foot was on the 3-point line, giving Team USA a one-point win in the final of the women’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Games. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill

“Understanding the dynasty that was put in place for the last however many years, them having not lost a game, there’s pressure to that,” she admitted. “But we’re here for a reason, and believing in one another.”

That belief should carry over to the 2028 Los Angeles Games for the 26-year-old Ionescu.

“I think being able to learn from a lot of the veteran players here, knowing it’s kind of my time and a lot of our times that, this younger generation is able to kind of take this legacy and continue to push forward and go for nine,” she said.

Ionescu and the Liberty will continue their bid for the franchise’s first title in Los Angeles on Thursday night.