Russia claims third fencing gold medal at Rio Olympics

Russia rallied past France 45-41 in a thrilling men's foil team final to win the country's fifth Olympic gold medal in Rio on Friday.

France, which overwhelmed defending champion Italy 45-30 in the semifinal, led 25-16 after five rounds. Russia stormed back with Alexey Cheremisinov cutting the deficit to 25-30 in the sixth round before Artur Akhumatkhuzin outscored Jean-Paul Tony Helissey 10-3 to come 40-38 up in the eighth.

Cheremisinov beat Erwan Le Pechoux 5-3 to seal the third fencing gold for Russia here, which claimed its second Olympic title in the men's team foil since Atlanta 1996.

"We believed in our victory. Until the last touch has been made, you have not yet lost," said Akhumatkhuzin. "The experience of previous years in similar situations played a role. This is sport, it can happen. There were examples when we won and when others caught up."

France still shares the record with Italy for the most gold medals in the men's foil team event with seven each.

"I think we can be happy for this final and for this day because we fenced well in the quarterfinal and the semifinal, and Russia's a very strong team," said Le Pechoux.

The United States claimed the bronze by beating Italy 45-31, earning its first medal in the men's team foil since 1932. Endit