The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) defeated France to grab the gold medal in the women's foil team event at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Thursday.

It's the ROC's second gold medal in fencing at these Games.

Things began to fall apart for France when the ROC led by 30-20 with three bouts remaining, and top-ranked Inna Deriglazova sealed the ROC's victory at 45-34.

"We trained a lot and we are really happy. We didn't only train four years but five years with the pandemic issues, so we are really happy we managed to win the gold medal," said Adelina Zagidullina.

France, who won the first medal in a women's foil event since 1984, rallied to beat defending champion Italy 45-43 in the semifinals.

Italy built a 20-9 lead after four bouts before France cut the deficit to 30-25 in the sixth. Ysaora Thibus stunned Arianna Errigo 8-3 in the last bout, bringing France into the final.

"This is what we work for. Being able to come back like that and never give up in the bout. I'm so proud of the girls," Thibus said.

Italy dominated the United States 45-23 to win the bronze medal, becoming the first team to win seven consecutive Olympic medals in the event.

"We know that we had the potential to get a medal and it was not easy. We got together, we kept going on and we did it," said Alice Volpi. 

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