Cuban spikers beat Russia to win third gold

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Sydney: Cuba won an unprecedented third successive Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball on Saturday, fighting back from two sets down to defeat Russia.

The Cubans, led by the dynamic leaper Yumilka Ruiz, overcame a much taller Russian team 25-27, 32-34, 25-19, 25-18, 15-7 to become the first volleyball team, men's or women's, to win three golds in a row.

Russia, second to Cuba at the 1999 World Cup and second again in last month's grand prix finals, looked determined to change the pattern at the start.

Using crisp passing to set up their towering front line, featuring Elena Godina (1.94m) and Evguenia Artamonova (1.91m), Russia came up big on the important points to power their way through the opening sets.

Russia saved three set points from 24-21 in the first set, closing it out when Taimaris Aguero dumped a pass down low to Ruiz, who was not expecting the ball and let it drop.

The second set was a tight struggle, with neither team enjoying more than a one-point lead from 13-12 until Godina blocked Marlenis Costa's spike to end the marathon set 34-32. Russia survived five set points.



(c) Reuters Limited.