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Team USA won a stunning Paralympics men’s wheelchair basketball gold medal on the final day of Tokyo 2020, providing a sting in the tail to the tournament’s “Cinderella story”.
Steve Serio scored 28 points and added nine assists as the United States beat hosts Japan 64-60 at the Ariake Arena, overcoming a 56-51 deficit with a large surge.
It was an agonising end to a stunning run from Japan, who had beaten Australia and Great Britain on the way to the final, their first at Paralympics level.
For the Americans, it means they have won men’s wheelchair basketball gold medals at seven editions of the Paralympics.
Serio said: “Japan was the Cinderella story of this tournament, but you couldn’t ask for a more storybook ending for us. We didn’t get the start we wanted, but we definitely got the finish we wanted.”
Japan’s silver was their first medal in men’s wheelchair basketball, with Hiroaki Kozai leading them with 18 points and Renshi Chokai adding eight points and a remarkable 18 rebounds.
Matt Scott, part of that triumphant basketball team, then carried the US flag at the closing ceremony, as Tokyo’s tenure as hosts of the Olympics and Paralympics came to an end.
Amid the strain of staging a global event during the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan pulled off the feat and handed the baton to Paris for the 2024 Games, signing off with a ceremony that was highlighted by nods to karaoke and video game culture and included a moving rendition of the Louis Armstrong classic What A Wonderful World.
China finished top of the medals table, with 96 golds in a total of 207 medals, with Great Britain second with 41 golds among 124 medals, and the USA third, landing 37 golds and 104 medals in all.
Hosts Japan ranked 11th, with 13 gold medals, 15 silver and 23 bronze, for a total of 51 medals.
