Thanks to Women, Team USA Dominates Rio Medal Haul

America ends up 51 medals ahead of second-place China
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 21, 2016 4:01 PM CDT
Thanks to Women, Team USA Dominates Rio Medal Haul
United States' Brittney Griner, left, and Elena Delle Donne, right, celebrate with their gold medals in basketball.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The US Olympic men's basketball team won its third straight gold medal and did it easily, beating Serbia 96-66 on Sunday. With the win, the Americans claim the final medal of the Rio Games and cap a dominant medal performance by Team USA overall, reports AP. The Americans—with women leading the way—dominated both the gold and overall totals. The US finished with 46 gold medals and 121 medals overall, its 51-total-medal margin over second-place China the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century.

US women left Rio with 27 golds—by far the most among any team of female Olympians at these games—and 61 medals total. "This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me," said US gymnast and closing ceremony flagbearer Simone Biles, who won five medals, four of them gold, in her first Olympics. For the fourth consecutive games, US swimmer Michael Phelps left with more medals than anyone else. He won six in Rio, while US swimmer Katie Ledecky won five. The men's basketball victory comes a day after the US women's team also took gold. (More Rio Olympics stories.)

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