U.S. women’s volleyball team wins gold.
Jordan Larson fell to the floor, put her head in her hands and cried after Brazil couldn’t return her spike on match point.
The frustration of being so close but not quite good enough was replaced by a feeling of relief after the U.S. women’s volleyball team finally claimed Olympic gold with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 win over Brazil on Sunday.
“I’m just still in a state of shock,” Larson said. “I cried more in the last 24 hours than I think I have in my career. I’m not an emotional player, an emotional person. But I think just the emotions got the best of me.”
The United States, which had won three silver medals and two bronze since first getting on the medal stand in 1984, got to the top step by beating the team that denied it a chance at gold in the final match of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Larson, who was part of that silver-winning team in 2012 and the bronze medal team five years ago, paved the way with her leadership on the court and her strong play on the attack and on defense.
Larson and middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, who both came back for a third Olympics after falling short in Rio de Janeiro, now have a complete medal collection following what is expected to be the final Olympic match of their careers.
The victory also allowed U.S. coach Karch Kiraly to join Lang Ping of China as the second person to win gold as a volleyball player and then lead a country to gold as coach. Kiraly won gold indoor as a player in 1984 and 1988. He also won gold in beach volleyball in 1996.
• Serbia left Tokyo with a medal in women’s volleyball for the second straight Games after beating South Korea in straight sets to win the bronze. Serbia won its first medal in the sport five years ago, a silver in Rio.
BOXING U.S. denied gold, but puts up a fight
Richard Torrez Jr. stared up at 6-foot-7 Bakhodir Jalolov and didn’t blink, courageously holding his own and staying on his feet against the most intimidating fighter in Tokyo.
Keyshawn Davis and Andy Cruz traded shots for three thrilling rounds, showing off some of the most polished boxing skills in the entire Olympics.
The final two Americans in the Tokyo field got agonizingly close to ending their team’s 17-year men’s gold medal drought, only to fall short against two of the best boxers who stepped into the Kokugikan Arena.
Torrez and Davis still leave Japan believing they’ve started a new era for the once-dominant U.S. team with its best Olympic showing in decades.
“We came in here and did some things that a lot of people probably thought we weren’t going to do,” super heavyweight Torrez said after his 5:0 loss to Jalolov in the final bout of the tournament.
“We’re putting boxing back into the USA. We’re giving it a surge again. I can’t be more proud of my teammates. I do think we came out here and we fueled the amateur scene in the U.S.”
The team coached by Billy Walsh leaves Tokyo with four medals — the most won by the U.S. since 2000. They also reached three gold medal bouts, more than any team since 1988.
Although they finished with three silvers, it was impossible to fault the efforts of Davis, Torrez and featherweight Duke Ragan against three elite opponents.
Tyrell Biggs and Riddick
Bowe are the only other Americans to win medals at super heavyweight.
Jalolov was an enormous obstacle, both physically and mentally: The Uzbek knocked Torrez unconscious when they fought in Russia in 2019.
Torrez got off to an outstanding start in the Olympic rematch before he forgot his game plan and began leaning too far forward in a rough second round.
Davis lost 4:1 in a close lightweight bout with Cruz, who claimed Cuba’s fourth gold medal in Tokyo.
MEN’S WATER POLO Serbia beats Greece to repeat as champion
Filip Filipovic and Serbia have won their second straight gold medal in men’s water polo, beating Greece 13-10 in the final event of the Tokyo Olympics.
Nikola Jaksic scored three goals on three shots as Serbia earned its fourth straight win since it lost to
Croatia in group play. Serbia finished third in Group B, but it raised its game to another level when the quarterfinals rolled around — just like it did when it won gold in 2016.
Filipovic’s tiebreaking goal with 26 seconds remaining lifted Serbia to a dramatic 10-9 victory over Spain in the semis.
Serbia became the first country to repeat as Olympic champion since Hungary won three in a row from 2000 to 2008.
Greece earned its first medal in men’s water polo. Its previous best finish was fourth in 2004.
Greece also matched the country’s best result in a team sport at the Olympics, joining a silver medal in women’s water polo at the Athens Games.
• Hungary won the bronze medal in men’s water polo, topping Spain 9-5.
Hungary is the winningest program in men’s water polo with nine golds, but the bronze in Tokyo was its first medal since its run of three straight Olympic titles from 2000 to 2008.
Hungary’s women’s water polo team also won bronze, beating the Russian
team 11-9 on Saturday.
MEN’S SOCCER Brazilian committee upset with players
The Brazilian Olympic Committee will take action against its men’s soccer national team after the players refused to wear the nation’s official Olympic uniform during the medal ceremony at the Tokyo Games on Saturday.
The committee released a statement on Sunday condemning the attitude of the players and the Brazilian soccer confederation after the team beat Spain in the final to win gold.
All athletes in the Brazilian delegation had been told in advance they had to wear the team’s IOC-approved official uniform, which is provided by Chinese company Peak Sport, but the players went to the podium wearing their Nike jerseys. Only their pants were part of the Peak uniform. Their jackets were tied around their waists.
Malcom scored in the 108th minute in extra time to give Brazil a 2-1 win over Spain on Saturday in Yokohama to defend Olympic soccer gold.