At the Paris Olympics, the power of black women was revealed at an important moment

PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team dominated the Olympics on Sunday, defeating France 67-66.

It was the eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the women’s team, which has not lost at the Games since 1992. Sunday’s victory was also the 61st consecutive Olympic victory in 32 years.

In the city where black dancer and singer Josephine Baker became a legend, the band’s performance complemented the show’s display of women’s strength usually and black American women particularly.

Team USA forward A’ja Wilson, who had the most points in the match — 21 — admitted she didn’t expect anything less.

“I’m not surprised at all because when it comes to getting the job done and the task done, a woman will always rise to the occasion and get it done,” she said. “When it’s time to shine in those big lights, we’ll always come out on top because we’re used to it.”

The dominance of the U.S. women’s team was evidence of that strength.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won two gold medals and broke her own Olympic record in the 400-meter hurdles. Sprinter Gabby Thomas won the 200-meter dash and was on the winning 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay teams, becoming the second American runner to win three gold medals at the Olympics since Allyson Felix in 2012. Tara Davis-Woodhall won gold in the long jump. Sha’Carri Richardson won silver in the 100-meter dash and ran a lightning-fast leg to assist the women’s 4×100 relay win gold. The women’s 4×400 relay nearly set a world record. Lauren Scruggs made history by becoming the first black American woman to win an individual medal in fencing. The women’s gymnastics team, led by sensational Simone Biles, showed their dominance by winning gold in the team final and collecting seven total medals in the individual events.

At a moment in American history when a black woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, is running for president of the United States, will spectacular performances — especially by black women at the Olympics — help Harris return to the States? If you think that athletes don’t listen to the political winds at home, you’re kidding yourself.

All you needed to do was read Biles’ social media post last week after she won the individual gold medal. Biles posted “I love my black job” with a heart emoji on Aug. 2. The post was a not-so-subtle dig at former President Donald Trump, who has been slammed for saying that “black jobs” are held by undocumented immigrants.

Before the Olympics began, U.S. basketball point guard Stephen Curry spoke of his support for Harris. Curry and Biles remind us that athletes reach a key group of young voters and potential voters. Athletes can play a bigger than expected role in voter registration campaigns and constructing excitement, especially for Harris.

Racism and misogyny are very much alive and well in the United States. This was no more evident than in the response to gymnast Jordan Chiles winning the individual bronze medal in the women’s freestyle after U.S. coach Cecile Landi called for her to maneuver up from fifth to 3rd place (International Olympic Committee he has since announced (The bronze medal is awarded to Ana Barbosu of Romania, which U.S. Olympic officials are appealing.) The Chiles episode was a multi-faceted comedy of errors that resulted in mistakes that broke the hearts of two deserving young ladies — first Barbosu, and now Chiles, who was the victim of a refereeing error.

The second and more disturbing element was the racial and gender-based vitriol directed at Chiles on social media. The vitriol was so vicious that Chiles was forced to depart social media for the sake of her mental health.

The Olympics might be the last semblance of global unity, and positively of unity in the United States, heading into what is certain to be a divisive election campaign for Trump and Harris. The former president has already signaled his intention to achieve for racist tropes and misogyny.

“This election is going to come down to gender,” said Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. “Are you going to show support or are you just going to speak up because it seems appropriate, especially for men who feel disempowered and challenged by women who have that kind of influence?”

I met Rawlinson on Sunday on my solution to the women’s gold-medal basketball game. While she is a staunch supporter of Harris, Rawlinson is a much bigger advocate for women, women’s empowerment and women in power, all of which might be important in the upcoming election.

“I care deeply about women. I care deeply about seeing black people win,” she said. “I care deeply about creating opportunity and access. And that can happen across multiple platforms.”

Rawlinson attended Stanford University and earned an MBA from Harvard University. She has worked in the tech industry in Silicon Valley. At Slack Technologies, Inc., she was part of the management team that received a buyout as part of the $27.7 billion sale of Salesforce in 2021, “which allowed me to have the capital to say, ‘Where can I have a bigger impact than just me?’” she said.

She looked to the WNBA, which has historically been at the forefront of social justice initiatives and activism. Rawlinson believed the WNBA was a spot where she could make a difference.

“Eighty percent of the people on the field are African American,” she said. “A large number of those people identify as LGBTQIA. The core tenet of the league is equality, access to opportunity, fighting for justice, having a seat at the table. I think bringing my business experience to sports can be like one plus one equals five.”

The WNBA is growing stronger. Women’s sports are growing stronger. That strength was evident in the Olympics. Will it’s evident in the presidential campaign, when racial identity and issues are at the forefront?

Rawlinson, 45, is back in Illinois, where the Democratic National Convention is about to start in Chicago on Aug. 19, the day after the WNBA resumes play. She hopes the energy generated in Paris by so many women and black women will carry over into the election season.

It cannot tell players who to vote for, but the organization can create an atmosphere during which voting is desired.

“We’re making a huge effort to make sure our players and the office, everyone in the organization, knows about the voting opportunity, how they can register if they haven’t, and we encourage them to take time off to do so,” she said.

“So it’s very much a question of, ‘Do you even realize the power you have?'”

Yes, yes.

Before she stepped off the podium on Sunday, Wilson asked a matter about women’s dominance at the Olympics and eloquently explained what the world had just seen.

The power of women.

“It’s nothing. We have women who have given birth. There’s someone who was, let’s say, six months pregnant and it’s devastating,” she said.

“So when it comes to showing up and showing up, I always go for women because we’re just phenomenal. The things that we go through, the weight that we carry, the mental aspect of how we approach things in life — there’s not a lot of people who can kill it like we can. So shout out to all the women out there who are going out there.”

In an election campaign during which gender will play a key role, it is a significant support.