Tokyo, Aug 8: Jordan Larson fell to the floor, put her head in her hands and cried after Brazil couldn’t return her spike on match point when the U.S. women’s volleyball team finally claimed Olympic gold with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 victory over Brazil on Sunday.
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 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 in 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. Brazil will leave only with a silver this year, after the women lost for the first time in Tokyo following seven straight wins.
The men lost a semifinal match to the Russians and then the bronze medal game against Argentina.
Serbia beat South Korea to win the bronze. (AP)
