So much was on the line as France and Poland faced off in the men’s gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
France was looking to become the first country since the United States in 1984 and 1988 to repeat as gold medalists in men’s volleyball, and the French were going for it in front of their home crowd. Poland had not won a medal since it took gold in 1976, and had lost in the quarterfinal at the last five Olympics.
In those five Olympic cycles, Poland took home two world championship titles, but just could not find that Olympic success. Finally, the Polish got past the quarterfinals in Paris, and after a crazy win in the semis, who was waiting for them once they reached the final? The fifth and final team that knocked them out in that run of Olympic despair and defending Olympic champion, France.
There was always going to be just one outcome in front of the kind of crowd that came out to South Paris Arena, and it turned up blue. The French cruised to an incredible three-set win over the top-ranked team in the world to win its second straight Olympic gold medal.
Poland had no answers for a team that was feeding off a crowd that has been incredible all tournament long, then reached its peak in the biggest game. As good as Poland is, there was nothing it could do to stop the speakers inside the arena from blasting Les Marsaillas to cap off the Olympic volleyball tournament.
After winning in front of an empty arena in Tokyo, France won at home in Paris in front of one of the best crowds Olympic volleyball has ever seen.
Set 1 — France 25, Poland 19
There was nothing to separate these teams early in the first set, but slowly France began to open up a gap. In the middle part of the set the French offense got rolling and opened up a comfortable 16-11 margin.
It was obvious France was feeding off the home crowd as their offense was just relentless in attack. France started 10 for its first 12 on the attack and got the lead to as big as six at 17-11.
Poland did not play like the top-ranked team in the world in the first set, with 10 errors and seven service errors. Poland did not block a single shot and France was nearly perfect, going 14/16 on attacks with no balls hit out of bounds. It all added up to a dominant 25-19 France win.
Set 2 — France 25, Poland 20
So where would Poland turn when they were in trouble? The only answer was always going to be its superstar, Wilfredo Leon. The only problem was he only managed to get seven swings off through two sets. He killed four of them and had five points, but Poland was simply not finding its main man enough.
Things were back-and-forth until France once again got rolling late and just took over. The French crowd was unbelievable and it was obvious how much the players were feeding off it. It was also clear how affected the Polish players were, especially once frustration started building in the later stages of the set.
It was all too much for Poland, and France took the big lead late to win 25-20. The star of the second set was Antoine Brizard, who had four points on a kill and three blocks. After no blocks in the first set, Brizard’s blocking prowess was needed to shut down the Polish offense and he delivered.
Offensively, the star was Trevor Clevenot, who was outshining fellow his fellow outside hitter, Earvin Ngapeth, with seven points on 6/7 swings and an ace.
Set 3 — France 25, Poland 23
With each point that France got closer to the gold, the energy inside the arena got higher and higher. It was a miracle the roof did not come off the South Paris Arena.
Every time it seemed Poland was finally getting back into the game, France had a response to take the lead right back. This night belonged to France, which played the perfect match en route to a second consecutive gold medal.
Poland led in the third, but France came back and was just too much, taking the advantage late in the set once again and riding that blue wave of a crowd home to victory.
Leon did everything he could, as Poland saved three match points with him at the service line and four total. In the end, he missed on the fifth match point and France emerged as the first repeat champions since the United States in 1984 and 1988.
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