THE United States won both the men’s and women’s basketball gold medals, as expected, while the basketball world welcomes new blood to expand its influence.

The U.S. men beat France 87-82 to win their fourth consecutive Olympic gold while their women’s counterparts defeated Japan 90-75 for their seventh straight title at the Olympics.

In one of the hardest finals in their history, the U.S. men fought back several surge-ups from France to maintain the victory for the once “Dream Team” on Saturday.

Losing to France in the opener of the Games and two losses during the exhibition games, the U.S. faced a ton of doubt about the chemistry of the squad and the commitment to the national duty.

Unlike the men’s team, the U.S. women stamped their superiority with another dominating victory in the Olympic final. From the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta to the 2016 Games in Rio, the U.S.’ narrowest gold medal match-winning margin was an 11-point victory over Australia in 2004. Otherwise, they have won every Olympic final by more than 20 points.

They have won nine gold medals in the past 10 Olympics, with the only “blemishes” on their record, a bronze medal in 1992 after a semifinal defeat to the Unified Team.

Besides the dominating U.S. teams, Japan, Slovenia and China had come up with some eye-opening performances in the tournament.

The Japanese women’s team finished with the first medal in its history after losing to the U.S. in the finals.

First-timer Slovenia also stormed into the men’s semi-finals after finishing first in its group, only losing to France 90-89 to finish fourth in the tournament. (Xinhua)