The French have won both the men’s and women’s handball titles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The match was a replay of the Rio 2016 final where Russia took the spoils (22-19), but the French would not be denied this time around.
The first half was a close affair where neither of the two sides could take a decisive lead, although the French enjoyed a slight edge.
France went into the half-time break with a narrow 15-13 lead, which they extended as time wound down.
Pauletta Foppa was on song for France with a 100% record, scoring seven goals, with Allison Pineau making an equally valuable contribution.
France enjoyed a six-point lead with six minutes left in the tussle and had to stave off persistent ROC attacks.
But ROC found it difficult to pierce the French defences, with keeper Cleopatre Darleux leading the charge blocking nine shots.
Bakhodir Jalolov crowned Olympic super-heavyweight boxing champion
Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov lifted his arms at the end of the super-heavyweight 91kg bout after conquering his old rival, United States’ Richard Torrez Jr, to claim gold and his country's first-ever Olympic title in the event.
It was the second time they had faced each other in the last two years ago, but this time the 27-year-old did not brutally knock-out the American. The 22-year-old, with more experience under his belt, fought hard in the bruising battle but was denied the victory, which the judges awarded to Jalolov 5-0. Tozzer went home with silver.
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Bakhodir Jalolov of Team Uzbekistan celebrates after winning the Men's Super Heavy Final bout on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on August 8, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)
They had last squared up at the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships but the memory of the defeat didn’t seem to phase Torrez’ as he calmly and confidently walked into the Kokugikan Arena to the strains of Beethoven’s 'Moonlight Sonata'. He was there to exact revenge, and he meant business.
Jalolov is the first-ever boxer from his country to win the title and only the second to claim a medal in the event after Rustam Saidov took bronze in Sydney 2000. On his way to the final Jalolov didn't lose a point. He also defeated Great Britain’s Frazer Clarke, who collected bronze, and India’s Satish Kumar 5-0 and Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev 5-0. The second bronze was awarded to Kazakhstan’s Kamshybek Kunkabayev, who Torrez built in the semi-final.
Golden Lauren Price wins Great Britain’s sixth boxing medal
Lauren Price beat People’s Republic of China’s LI Qian in the women’s middleweight boxing final on the last day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Sunday 8 August). The British boxer won with a unanimous decision from the judges.
That takes Great Britain's boxing medal tally to six medals from 11 fighters. Price adds her gold to compatriot Galal Yafai's title in the lightweight division on Saturday (7 August) and to two silvers and two bronzes from Tokyo 2020.
Price, who is also a former kickboxing world champion and footballer, got her tactics spot on, keeping cool and calm against Rio bronze medallist Li, on her way to the title.
Serbia defend their men's water polo Olympic title
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Nikola Jaksic of Team Serbia celebrates during the Men's Gold Medal match between Greece and Serbia on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tatsumi Water Polo Centre in Tokyo, Japan on August 8, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)
Serbia have defended their Rio 2016 Olympic title in men's water polo after defeating Greece 13-10 at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
While Greece had to settle for the silver medal, it was still a history-making moment for the team as they the nation earnt their first medal in men's water polo. Prior to Tokyo 2020, Greece best finish in the men's tournament was fourth at Athens 2004.
In the lead up to the gold medal match, Greece had won six of its seven games at Tokyo 2020, with the only exception a 6-6 draw against Italy in the preliminary round. For Serbia, it was a different story as they suffered two losses to Spain and Croatia in the preliminary round on their route to the final.
Serbia opened up an 6-3 lead by the end of the first quarter of the final before Greece managed three consecutive goals to bring the match level. With scored locked at 7-all for over four-minutes, Andrija Prlainovic was able to give Serbia the lead four seconds from halftime.
It was a close, nerve-wrecking and tense match as scored flipped flopped around before Serbia were able to create a three-goal advantage just four-minutes from time. The gap was something Greece couldn't recover from as Serbia started celebrating after the final seconds ticked down.
Earlier in the day, Hungary beat Spain 9-5 to win the bronze medal. Rebounding from a loss to Greece in the semi-final, Hungary secured their first Olympic medal since Beijing 2008 after back-to-back fifth place finishes at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
