France crush Poland to win back-to-back Olympic volleyball golds

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/4UUj2p7m/"]France[/a] are only the third country to win back-to-back golds in men's volleyball after the former Soviet Union and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/QXpoGyUl/"]United States[/a].[/p][p]The US had beaten world champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/KYAO21L5/"]Italy[/a] in straight sets on Friday to take the bronze medal.[/p][p]Jean Patry led the way for the hosts with 17 points and Trevor Clevenot had 11 while Antoine Brizard chipped in with crucial blocks at the net as France claimed a 15th gold medal at their home Games with a 25-19 25-20 25-23 victory.[/p][p][b]"It's incredible. Right from the start we've been pushed by the fans. The crowd was crazy," [/b]Clevenot said.[/p][p]"Everyone did well to beat a team like Poland. We will party tonight. We won't finish early!"[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/poland/r3l84Njg/"]Poland[/a], back in the final after 48 years, were left to rue a missed opportunity to claim their second gold.[/p][p]Poland's biggest star Wilfredo Leon, who had 94 points in Paris, had a quiet game by his standards with just nine points.[/p][embed guid="823256a1-7925-494a-b4c5-f816eee59b72" url="https://x.com/TheAthletic/status/1822248164419571915" social-type="twitter" /][p]The teams got off to a sizzling start with every spike and block drawing massive roars from a full house.[/p][p]Poland fell behind in the opening set with several service errors before France wrapped it up when Patry made an excellent dig to set himself up for a devastating kill.[/p][p]Leon lifted Poland when he attacked with purpose until Brizard denied him a third straight point with the first block of the match, following it up with two more to give France the lead in the second.[/p][p]Clevenot's clever shot selection for France had been instrumental and he scored three in a row, winning a key battle at the net before sealing a 2-0 lead with a superb spike.[/p][p]Four monster blocks at the start of the third set the tone for France as things spun out of control for Poland. Sensing a famous win, the home crowd once again got involved in a loud and proud rendition of La Marseillaise - the French anthem.[/p][p]Poland saved four match points but only delayed the inevitable when Leon's serve went long to spark wild celebrations on the floor and in the stands.[/p][p]Leon was disappointed with the silver but took pride in standing on the podium.[/p][p][b]"We're happy, for a really long time we didn't reach the podium at the Olympics,"[/b] he said. [b]"So I should be proud of the team."[/b][/p]