Russia beat France 22-19 in women’s handball final

Russia has beaten France 22-19 to win gold in women's handball.

It is the first women's handball gold for Russia, though the Soviet Union won in 1976 and 1980. France's silver is its first women's handball medal, and it has a chance to add men's gold today.

A hard-fought, defense-first final, with the lowest scoring total in Olympic women's history, saw Russia take a four-goal advantage with five minutes to go then grind out the win.

Russia's Anna Vyakhireva shared top-scorer honors on five goals with France's Allison Pineau and Siraba Dembele.

Earlier, pre-tournament favorite Norway cruised to bronze in a 36-26 win over the Netherlands, with seven goals from tournament top scorer Nora Mork.

Today, France and Denmark play for men's gold after Germany and Poland contest bronze.