United States win maiden gold at women’s indoor volleyball

World number ones the United States won their first Olympic gold medal in women's indoor volleyball by beating Brazil in three straight sets – 25-21 25-20 25-14. Brazil claimed silver after missing out on the podium at their home Games at Rio 2016.

The U.S. were three-time silver medallists most recently at London 2012. At Rio 2016, they came third, beaten in the semi-finals by Serbia. The U.S. put that right this time around by beating Serbia also in three straight sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-23 in the semi-final.

Captain Jordan 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 the final Olympic match of their careers.

The victory also allowed U.S. coach Karch Kiraly to join LANG Ping of People's Republic 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, meanwhile, are going home with a medal in women’s volleyball for the second straight Olympics.

They beat Republic of Korea in straight sets on Sunday (8 August) to win the bronze medal in Tokyo. That comes five years after they won their first medal in the sport, a silver in Rio de Janeiro. They beat Republic of Korea 3-0.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.