German eves clinch gold

World wrap-up

Germany won their first ever Olympic gold medal in women's football on Friday when they turned in a superior second half performance to beat Sweden 2-1 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The No. 2 ranked Germans scored two goals in the second half, and although the Swedes got a goal back they could not snatch an equaliser that would take the game into extra time.

The win was Germany's sixth unbeaten match in the tournament and lifts them into an elite group alongside the United States and Norway as the only teams to win both the women's World Cup and the Olympics.

Germany failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2012 but won the bronze the last three times they played, in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

"This is something completely new, so this is definitely a new summit for German women's football," said German coach Silvia Neid, who is retiring after the Olympics.

Skelton bags gold

Britain's Nick Skelton won gold in individual show jumping at the Rio Olympics on Friday after a fast and penalty-free jumpoff that none of the five riders who followed could match. The 58-year-old, who is competing in his seventh Olympics and was once advised to stop riding by a surgeon, went clear on Big Star in 42.82 seconds. It was his first individual medal though he helped Britain to win team gold in 2012.

"Obviously I was first to go and I thought in my mind to go as fast as I could but be safe... I tried to put a bit of pressure on everyone else. Luck was on my side," said Skelton.

Denmark in final

Denmark advanced to the men's Olympic handball final after a thrilling 29-28 overtime victory over world number eight Poland on Friday.

Denmark, who will face France in the title clash, were forced to work a little extra to clinch the semifinal win as Poland recovered from a slow start and scored with two seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

In the extra period, Mikkel Hansen, who finished with a game-high of 10 goals, and Morten Olsen took advantage of Poland's lapse in concentration to give Denmark a three-goal lead and set them on their way.

Italy dethrone US

Italy's men's volleyball team put an end to a US winning streak and ousted the Americans from the Rio Games in a five-set battle on Friday to go through to the final where they will seek their first Olympic gold medal.

Italy overcame the United States 30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9 and will face twice Olympic champions and three-time silver medallists Brazil in Sunday's title showdown.

The Brazilians avenged the loss of their 2012 London Games final to Russia in Friday's second semifinal, overpowering the defending champions 3-0.

The Americans did not have the same luck in reverting a pool round loss to Italy, who ended a run of four straight victories by the United States as well as their bid for a fourth Olympic gold.

In Rio, they held firm throughout, thanks to a succession of unreturnable 110 km serves by Lipe, as they won 25-21, 25-20, 25-17.