Argentina beat Belgium 4-2 to claim the Olympic title and win their country’s first Games medal in men’s hockey, edging a close-fought match between two teams few expected to make the final. Long playing in the shadow of a much-celebrated women’s team, Argentina’s men will leave Rio with their first Olympic hockey title. Belgium’s silver was their best finish at the Games in 96 years.
They last took home bronze in Antwerp in 1920. Both teams had beaten the odds in Rio to make their first Olympic final. Belgium eliminated world number two the Netherlands 3-1, hours before Argentina routed defending champions Germany 5-2.
The Germans were reduced to scrapping it out for third place against the Dutch ahead of the main event, with twice gold medallists Germany claiming the bronze after winning a penalty shootout 4-3 following a tense 1-1 draw at full-time.
Sailing
Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (picture, above) won Brazil’s first Rio 2016 sailing gold in the women’s 49erFX class, coming from behind to score a dramatic medal-race victory over New Zealand’s Alex Maloney and Molly Meech. In a hotly-disputed medal race of the 10-day regatta, Jena Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen, of Denmark, won bronze, pushing Spain’s Tamara Echegoyen Dominguez and Berta Betanzos Moro off the podium.