France earns 1st women's Olympic handball gold with victory over ROC

France claimed its first Olympic women's handball title, beating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team 30-25 in the final at the Tokyo Games on Sunday.

France secured gold following a dramatic, high-paced showdown between the two sides in which they had the upper hand at the break before the Russians pulled level at 16-16.

But then France shifted gears to take a decisive advantage at 20-16 in the 43rd minute of a tight contest in which the lead had not crossed more than three points up until then.

The ROC had won their previous meeting with France by a solitary goal in the group stage at Tokyo despite trailing at halftime but their efforts were in vain in the final.

The victory meant France emulated their male counterparts in bagging the gold medal, marking the first time since Los Angeles 1984 that both men's and women's handball teams from the same country have triumphed at the Games.

The Soviet Union first managed the feat in 1976 before Yugoslavia nearly four decades ago.

Norway took bronze after thrashing Sweden 36-19 earlier on Sunday, dominating the clash as their fast attacks overwhelmed the Swedish defence.

Norway also won bronze in women's handball at the 2016 Rio Olympics after taking the title at the 2012 and 2008 Games.

Sweden, playing their first Olympic medal match in women's handball, struggled throughout the game and missed many shots.

On Sunday, Nora Moerk led Norway's assault on the Swedish goal, netting eight balls to grab the top-scorer spot for women in handball at the Tokyo Games with 52 goals.

An outstanding performance by Norway goalie Silje Solberg, who had a superb 44% saving efficiency rate and even scored a goal, kept Sweden in check.

"It's my first Olympic medal and it means a lot for me," Solberg said.

"To finish this way is a good feeling for me and the whole team. We showed that we're meant to be here in the top three."

Serbia beats Greece to win men's water polo gold

Filip Filipovic and Serbia followed a familiar formula all the way to another gold medal at the Olympics.

Nikola Jaksic scored three goals on three shots and Filipovic made several big plays, helping Serbia beat Greece 13-10 in the men's water polo final at the Tokyo Games on Sunday.

Serbia became the first country to repeat as Olympic champion since Hungary won three in a row from 2000 to 2008. It earned its fourth medal in its fourth appearance in the Olympics' oldest team sport.

Dimitrios Skoumpakis, captain Ioannis Fountoulis and Angelos Vlachopoulos scored two goals apiece for Greece, which earned its first medal in men's water polo. Its previous best finish was fourth in 2004 in Athens.

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.

It was a surprising run for Fountoulis and company, and the Greeks pushed Filipovic and the mighty Serbs deep into the fourth before fading. The teams exchanged hugs in the water when it was over.

Serbia learned some valuable lessons while winning bronze medals in 2008 and 2012, namely how to pace itself during the grueling tournament. It finished fourth in its group at the Rio de Janeiro Games, and then muscled its way to its first Olympic title.

Five years later, it was more of the same.

Serbia split its first four games in Tokyo and finished third in Group B, but it raised its game to another level when the quarterfinals rolled around. Filipovic's tiebreaking goal with 26 seconds left put Serbia back in the final with a dramatic 10-9 victory over Spain on Friday.

Viktor Nagy led Hungary to the bronze medal in men's water polo in his last game, making eight saves in a 9-5 victory over Spain.

Marton Vamos scored two goals as Hungary rebounded from a disappointing 9-6 loss to Greece in the semifinals.

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. It finished fifth in London and Rio de Janeiro.

Jalolov of Uzebkistan wins super heavyweight boxing gold

Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan has won gold at super heavyweight in the final boxing match of the Tokyo Olympics, dominating a 5:0 victory over Richard Torrez Jr. of the United States.

The 6-foot-7 Jalolov towered over nearly every other fighter in the Olympic sport's largest weight class, yet he also has the stiff jab of a much smaller man. He dominated all four of his bouts in Tokyo, sweeping every judge's decision in three fights and winning by stoppage in the semifinals.

Jalolov is an 8-0 professional boxer who lives in California and fights mostly in North America. He became the most experienced pro to win gold in the second Olympics after professionals were allowed to qualify.

He also won the only boxing medal in Tokyo for the disappointing Uzbek team, which sent 11 fighters to Tokyo after topping the medal table in Rio de Janeiro.

Torrez claimed the third silver for the U.S., which had its most successful Olympics since 2000 in terms of total medals. The Americans are the most successful boxing nation in Olympic history, but they haven't won a men's gold medal since 2004.

Frazer Clarke of Britain and Kamshybek Kunkabayev won super heavyweight bronze.

Meanwhile, Andy Cruz has won Cuba's fourth boxing gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, beating U.S. lightweight Keyshawn Davis 4:1 in the final.

Cruz beat Davis for the fourth consecutive time in their amateur careers, but he had to rally with an impressive third round after Davis swept the second on all five judges' cards.

Cruz and Davis both showed off the hand speed and athleticism that made them two of the most impressive fighters in Tokyo, but Cruz's technical skills impressed the judges.

Cruz joined two-time Olympic gold medallists Roniel Iglesias, Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz with championships in Tokyo.

Kellie Anne Harrington of Ireland beat Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil to win the women's lightweight boxing gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

Ferreira won silver, while Mira Potkonen of Finland and Sudaporn Seesondee of Thailand both won bronze medals as losing semifinalists.