This marked the first time a team that came into the Olympics without ever winning a medal in men's volleyball went home with the gold since the U.S. It was almost premature as the point went to replay, but the French got another chance to celebrate when the call was confirmed and the celebration resumed as the players sang and danced around the court in the near-empty arena. Jean Patry delivered a kill and an ace on back-to-back points to put the French ahead for good at 13-11.Īntoine Brizard then surprised the Russians when he sent a soft shot over the net instead of setting it to give France match point.įrance won it 15-12 when Maxim Mikhaylov's shot went wide, sending the French pouring onto the court in celebration. Just when France seemed poised to blow the match, it mustered up enough energy to pull it out at the end.
TOKYO - France made sure its first Olympic volleyball medal would be gold, beating the Russian Olympic Committee team 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 21-25, 15-12 Saturday night in a breakthrough win for a country that had no history of success.įrance had qualified for the Olympics four times before this year and made it as far as the quarterfinals only once in 1988.īut after a slow start that began with a 3-0 loss to the United States and a 2-3 record in pool play, the French men knocked off Pool A winner Poland in a five-set quarterfinal before sweeping Argentina in the semis and beating the Russians in a dramatic final to earn gold.
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