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.