[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] secured his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in France on Saturday, helping the USA defeat the hosting French team 98-87 in the final game.
The former Duke basketball star became the first Blue Devil to ever win two gold medals as a player at the Olympic Games.
Tatum scored two points (in the form of a breakaway dunk in transition) and snagged three rebounds off the bench in the title game on Saturday.
In his last gold medal game, also against France back in 2021, he scored 19 points and came down with seven boards.
Six other Duke men’s basketball players have won gold at the Olympics, all with the United States. Jeff Mullins (1964) and Tate Armstrong (1976) both got their gold medals before professional players could make the team. Christian Laettner (1992), Grant Hill (1996), Carlos Boozer (2008), and Kyrie Irving (2016) have all secured their gold medals since that rule changed, although Laettner was still coming off his last national title with the Blue Devils.
The summer of 2024 has been one for the history books with Jayson Tatum. He also won his first NBA title with the Boston Celtics earlier this year after making the All-NBA First Team for the third consecutive time. Only three other players have ever done all three of those things in the same calendar year.
Golden Once Again! 🥇
Jayson Tatum is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with @usabasketball!#OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/XxzZJi6mED
— Duke Athletics (@DukeATHLETICS) August 10, 2024
Duke women’s basketball alum Chelsea Gray could join Tatum with a second gold medal of her own on Sunday when the United States takes on France (yes, again) in the women’s gold medal game.