Russia scored a lopsided 45-30 victory over Ukraine in the women's team sabre final Saturday to extend the country's outstanding fencing performance during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The Russian trio of Sofya Velikaya, Yana Egorian and Yuliya Gavrilova won seven of the nine head-to-head battles during the gold-medal match. The win gave the nation its seventh medal in fencing, three more than any other country, with one event remaining (men's team epee).
Meanwhile, the United States edged Italy to win bronze, giving the overall medal leaders another tally as the Americans also moved into second in fencing podium finishes with four.
Here's a look at the results from Carioca Arena 3 in Rio:
Match | Winning Team | Losing Team | Score |
Gold | Russia | Ukraine | 45-30 |
Bronze | United States | Italy | 45-30 |
Velikaya and Gavrilova got Russia off to a strong start, as they each won their first battle 5-2 to surge to a quick six-point lead and never looked back. Gavrilova also earned a 5-1 win over Olena Voronina in the seventh round, the most one-sided battle of the match.
Olga Kharlan scored the only victory for Ukraine with a 6-5 win over Egorian in the sixth round, but it wasn't enough to spur a comeback bid.
RT passed along comments from Russia head coach Ilgar Mamedov, who confirmed the terrific start made the difference.
"It was important that they managed to break away at the very start," he said. "The girls were on fire and led the fight to victory."
Although the fight for bronze finished with the same score, it was more competitive, at least for the first couple of rounds. The United States led by just four after the first trio of battles but went on a 15-6 run over the next three to take control.
Dagmara Wozniak shined the brightest for the U.S. She didn't receive more than two touches in any of her three appearances during the match, beating her opponents by a combined score of 15-5 to pace the Americans.
The victory took on more significance thanks to Ibtihaj Muhammad, who went 1-0-1 in her two battles. ABC News provided more details about her history-making moment:
The medal matches ended up being anticlimactic compared to the semifinals, which were both decided by just three points apiece. But that's fine for both the Russians, who won't be happy to see the fencing events end Sunday, and the Americans.
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