By Rohith Nair
PARIS (Reuters) -Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Duda Lisboa beat Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson 2-1 to win the Olympic women’s beach volleyball gold at the iconic venue in front of the Eiffel Tower on Friday.
In the bronze medal match, Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner beat Australia’s silver medallists from Tokyo, Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, in straight sets.
With the shimmering lights on Paris’s most famous monument serving as the perfect backdrop and thumping music at the temporary arena between every point, Brazil won their first gold medal since the sport made its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Duda and Ramos are the top-ranked duo in the world and they underlined their credentials as favourites with a superlative performance and a roaring crowd backing them while Canada also took home their first medal in the sport.
Even as tempers flared at one point in the deciding set, the DJ played John Lennon’s “Imagine” to calm things down as the crowd sang along and the athletes smiled and carried on before Brazil trumphed 26-24 12-21 15-10.
Switzerland won the bronze with a 21-17 21-15 victory over Australia.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Paris; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ed Osmond)
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