Americans bag men’s Para basketball gold

PARIS, France (AFP) — The USA won a third consecutive men’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball title on Saturday and teenage Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan collected a remarkable seventh gold of the Paris Games.

The Americans were made to fight at a packed Bercy Arena by a determined Great Britain, appearing in the final for the first time since 1996.

But although the Britons cut the deficit to three points with 14 seconds remaining when Terry Bywater scored an audacious three-pointer, the Americans saw out the final seconds, scored a free throw, and took the glory with a 73-69 win.

Jake Williams top-scored for the USA with 26 points and Steve Serio hit 24 points.

Team USA have now won gold at Rio, Tokyo and Paris and will go for four with a home crowd roaring them in Los Angeles in 2028.

Jiang, 19, who lost her right arm and leg in a car accident at the age of four, landed gold No. 7 in the pool by breaking the Paralympic world record in the women’s 100m backstroke S6 to defeat US defending champion Jessica Long on the final day of the swimming program.

She was one of a trio of Chinese swimmers who won titles in a frenetic 30-minute period as Paris 2024 said goodbye to La Defense Arena, one of the most atmospheric of the venues for the Olympics and Paralympics.