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France claimed its first gold medal of Paris 2024 as Antoine Dupont loosened Fiji’s stranglehold on Olympic sevens rugby.
Fiji, gold medallists at Rio 2016 and Tokyo three years ago, had won 17 straight matches at the Games, but that record finally fell as Les Blues roared to a 28-7 victory.
Tied 7-7 at the break, Dupont – a former world XVs player of the year who had skipped this year’s Six Nations Championship to focus on helping France fulfill its Olympic dream – arrived to blow Fiji apart.
Dupont’s first touch saw him sprint down the touchline, beat Jerry Tuwai for pace, and flick a pass over Iowane Teba’s head for Aaron Grandidier Nkakang to score.
The Toulouse scrum-half then scored twice himself to complete the rout and guarantee France’s first Olympic medal in sevens rugby.
It was a far cry from the start when Joseva Talacolo rewarded Fijian ingenuity within 90 seconds and Teba converted.
But France replied as Andy Timo off-loaded to Jefferson-Lee Joseph and Rayan Rebbadj’s kick restored parity – and French confidence grew from that point.
South Africa saw off a brave challenge from Australia, who had Nick Malouf sent off for a high tackle, to take bronze.
Six-man Australia recovered from a 12-point deficit with only two minutes remaining to level, but Shaun Williams scorched over for the BlitzBoks to win 26-19 and replicate their third place in Rio.
Ireland finished sixth with Mark Roche’s first-half try proving no more than a consolation score in a 17-7 defeat to New Zealand.
