PARIS (AP) — France defended its Olympic gold medal in men’s volleyball on Saturday, and oh how special to do so right at home with a raucous, standing-room-only crowd offering assists every step of the way.
South Paris Arena instantly became party central as the dejected Poland team sat and watched its victorious opponent dance all over the court.
Fans waving The Tricolore roared and shook the stands for every remarkable rally, leaping block, powerful spike and service ace as their team handled world No. 1 Poland in straight sets.
The second-ranked French won 25-19, 25-20, 25-23 to make it two in a row on top of the Olympic podium.
They were led by Jean Patry’s hard hitting and match-high 17 points along with the team’s sensational service game that led to eight aces — four in the second set — and just plain hustle plays.
Earvin N’Gapeth repeatedly hit the floor to save balls and keep rallies alive, and he even pulled off a blind, over-the-head scoring point with his face looking away from the net.
Patry converted eight of his initial nine chances while Barthélémy Chinenyeze began 6 for 6 in the attack and he and N’Gapeth finished with eight points apiece.
Poland reached the Olympic final for the first time in 48 years since capturing gold at the 1976 Montreal Games.
The French team jumped to a 16-11 lead in the first set fueled by the energized crowd and kept pushing. They had learned the hard way about falling behind and took no chances with gold on the line: France was forced to rally from a two-set deficit in the quarterfinals against Germany to keep alive their shot at a repeat championship.
Poland coach Nikola Grbić so wanted this gold for his veteran team — with 34-year-old Pawel Zatorski, 36-year-old Grzegorz Lomacz and soon-to-be-36 Bartosz Kurek likely playing their final Olympics.
There was no way Zatorski, Poland’s veteran libero, was going to miss this opportunity under the Olympic lights despite going down for several minutes when he injured his left shoulder while colliding with a teammate during Wednesday’s come-from-behind, five-set victory against the United States.
After the semifinal match, Zatorski couldn’t feel a couple of fingers on his left hand. After this defeat, he stood on the other side of the net and watched the French wave and bounce to the music before the medal ceremony.
The American men swept Italy for a bronze medal on Friday, while the U.S. women will face Italy on Sunday for a chance to defend their Tokyo title.
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