Latvia, US win first-ever Olympic golds in 3x3 basketball

TOKYO: Latvia won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in 3x3 men's basketball after defeating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team 21-18, while the U.S. team triumphed in the women's event at Tokyo 2020 here on Wednesday.

Hip-hop music throughout the games gave the finals a highly entertaining atmosphere. With switches between offense and defense in a flash, all players went all out for the last victory in the five-day tournament.

The final between the two powerhouses in men's session was nail-biting. The ROC used a 9-4 to get an upper hand in the first minutes. But Latvia took everything to keep the opponents within range and clawed back step by step to even the game 13-13.

Leading by 19-18, Latvia got the ball back after a challenge with 32 seconds to go and Karlis Lasmanis hit a two-pointer to nail down the victory for Latvia.

This is the first gold medal that Latvia has won at this edition of the Games.

In the women's gold medal game, the ROC team lost as well, going down to the United States.

The Americans scored the first point of the game and the ROC came back with a layup within seconds. The U.S. used a 11-4 run to lead 12-5. The ROC managed to come back to 12-9 but failed to write off the deficit. Agencies

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