France defended their Athens Olympics men's team sabre title to win gold at the Beijing Games with a comfortable 45-37 victory over surprise package the US yesterday.

On their way to the final, the Americans eliminated world champions Hungary and European champions Russia on the back of inspiring come-from-behind performances by Keeth Smart.

In the bronze medal match, Athens individual champion Aldo Montano came back from 44-42 down in the last bout to give Italy a 45-44 victory over Russia.

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