PARIS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions France swept world No. 1 Poland 3-0 in the final here on Saturday to retain the Olympic men's volleyball title at Paris 2024.
Jean Patry had 17 points and Trevor Clevenot added 11 as the hosts clinched the 25-19, 25-20, 25-23 victory in 76 minutes to repeat their winning feat at Tokyo 2020.
"The most difficult thing is to do it again, and 3-0 against Italy [in the semifinals] and 3-0 against Poland is amazing," said Patry. "In this team, there is something the other teams don't have. They don't have the energy we have."
France outblocked their opponents 9-4 and produced eight aces, compared to four by Poland, who were led by Bartosz Kurek's 10 points. Having scored 26 points in Poland's 3-2 semifinal victory over the United States, star spiker Wilfredo Leon Venero was held to nine points.
"I'm very happy. It was my dream. I've been waiting for this medal for 35 years," said France head coach Andrea Giani, who had taken two silvers and a bronze at the Olympics with Italy as a player.
"We played very well in the final. Our level in this game was so high, reception, block, spike, and to be at such a level was needed to win this tournament."
Despite the loss in the final, Poland head coach Nikola Grbic was proud of his players.
"It is an enormous amount of pressure on these guys because everyone was expecting us to win the gold," he said.
"I am so proud of these guys for what they accomplished. There were a million problems we had coming back from almost losing in the semifinals [to the United States] with players injured. We fought and earned the opportunity to play for gold."
Later on Saturday, Brazil beat Turkey 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 25-15) to win the bronze medal of the women's volleyball.
