Our final installment chronicles the men’s and women’s basketball teams’ respective victories and so much more from the Rio Olympics’ final weekend.
By Sameer Rao
ColorLines, August 22, 2016 —
The United States Men’s Basketball team celebrates with their gold medals after defeating Serbia in the Men’s Gold medal game on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1 on August 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Team USA closed out the Rio Olympics in fine form, winning a total of 121 medals—51 more than China, its closest competitor—before last night’s (August 21) closing ceremonies. Pivotal victories from both individual athletes of color and predominantly-POC teams contributed to that exceptional number. We catalog those victories in this final installment of #POCMedalWatch:
Men’s Basketball Team, Basketball (12 players of color)
The all-Black Olympic men’s basketball team—featuring NBA stars like Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant—won a gold medal after beating Serbia 96-66.
Women’s Basketball Team, Basketball (8 players of color)
The predominantly-Black women’s team, which included WNBA leading lights like Maya Moore and Tina Charles, won their sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 101-72 victory against Spain.
Tianna Bartoletta, Track & Field
Bartoletta took home her second gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay race.
Allyson Felix, Track & Field
Felix added not one, but two gold medals to her previous silver one, winning in the women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
Tori Bowie, Track & Field
Bowie added both one gold and one bronze medal to her silver one with victories in the women’s 4x100m relay (gold) and 200m dash (bronze).
English Gardner, Track & Field
Gardner won a gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Morolake Akinosun, Track & Field
Akinosun, who was born in Nigeria, won a gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Ariana Washington, Track & Field
Washington won a gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Taylor Ellis-Watson, Track & Field
Ellis-Watson earned a gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Courtney Okolo, Track & Field
Okolo won a gold medal for the women’s 4x400m relay.
Natasha Hastings, Track & Field
Hastings, whose family hails from Jamaica and Trinidad, won a gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Francena McCorory, Track & Field
McCorory won a gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Phyllis Francis, Track & Field
Francis took home a gold medal for her win in the women’s 4x400m relay.
LaShawn Merritt, Track & Field
Merritt, already a bronze medalist, earned a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m race.
Kyle Clemons, Track & Field
Clemons won a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay.
Arman Hall, Track & Field
Hall won a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay.
Gil Roberts, Track & Field
Roberts won a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay.
Tony McQuay, Track & Field
McQuay won a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay.
David Verburg, Track & Field
Verburg won a gold medal in the men’s 4x400m relay.
Matthew Centrowitz, Jr., Track & Field
Centrowitz, whose mother hails from Guyana, won the gold medal in the men’s 1500m race.
Claressa Shields, Boxing
Shields won a gold medal in women’s middle 75kg boxing.
Shakur Stevenson, Boxing
Stevenson took home the silver medal in men’s bantam 56kg boxing.
Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo, Track & Field
Chelimo, who was born in Kenya, won a silver medal in the men’s 5000m race.
Jackie Galloway, Taekwondo
Galloway, of Mexican heritage (she once served as an alternative for Mexico’s team), won a bronze medal in the women’s over 67 kg taekwondo competition.
Micah Christenson, Erik and Kawika Shoji, Volleyball
Christenson and the Shoji brothers, all of partial Asian descent, won a bronze medal with the men’s volleyball team.
Rachael Adams, Foluke Akinradewo and Alisha GlassR, Volleyball
Adams, Glass and Nigerian-descended Akinradewo won a bronze medal with the women’s volleyball team.
#POCMedalWatch diverted from the Olympics’ official medal tallies by counting each member of color from a medal-winning squad or team (i.e. basketball, the various relay teams in swimming and track and field) that won a medal as an individual medalist. With that rubric in mind, #POCMedalCount’s final tally is 78 medals.
View the previous #POCMedalWatch winners here, and tell us your favorite Olympic moments in the comments.
