An ecstatic team of Brazilian volleyball players cried, threw their coach in the air and dived head first on to the ground in unison after beating Italy 3-1 to win the men's Olympic gold medal on Sunday.
Tears of joy as they received their gold medal were replaced by huge grins as they stood in a circle just minutes later to toss head coach Bernardo Rezende into the air.
Then in a reprise of what they did repeatedly in the final match, the team lined up, ran and dived on to their stomachs as if they were leaping for a ball.
In addition to diving for balls in the final match, the world's top ranked side put up a wall of blockers and launched speedy attacks to rack up their 25-15 24-26 25-20 25-22 victory against Italy.
Although Brazil easily won the first set, Italy - trying to win the one volleyball prize they have yet to bag - came fighting back to win the second. But Brazil's blocking and serving overpowered the Sydney bronze medallists who failed to win another set.
In the bronze medal match earlier, Russia beat the United States in straight sets. The Sydney silver medallists' towering spikers and effective blocks at the net led them to a 25-22 27-25 25-16 victory over the United States.
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