Black Ferns beat France 26-12 in final to win gold medal in Tokyo Olympics

New Zealand came up with a clinical four-try performance as they defeated France 26-12 in the final of the Women's 7s in the Tokyo Olympics to clinch the gold medal.

Having lost the gold medal match to Australia five years ago, the Black Ferns Sevens had spoken about their desire to go one better in Tokyo, and captain Sarah Hirini helped give them the ideal start as she offloaded to Michaela Blyde to score.

New Zealand got off to a fantastic start as skipper Sarah Hirini offloaded to Michaela Blyde for her to dot down in the opening minute but France responded back strongly with a touchdown from Caroline Drouin in the third minute.

The Black Ferns were the dominant heading into the break as Gayle Broughton and Stacey Fluhler scored further tries as they completed the opening half with a 19-5 lead.

Even though France managed to reduce the gap further with an early second half try from Anne-Cecile Ciofani, a converted try from Tyla Nathan-Wong ensured there was no slip up for New Zealand as they completed a 26-12 victory.

Earlier, New Zealand defeated Fiji 22-17 in the semi-final while France went past Great Britain 26-19 to reach the final.

Fiji recovered from that disappointment to win a first women’s Olympic medal, and only their country’s third ever, as they beat Great Britain 21-12 in the bronze medal match.

Great Britain dominated possession in the first half but found themselves 14-0 down as Alowesi Nakoci scored two stunning tries.

Megan Jones went over to give Team GB hope, but Reapi Ulunisau scored her eighth try of the tournament to give Fijiana what proved an unassailable lead. Jones again touched down in the closing stages, but it was nothing more than consolation.

Meanwhile, Australia sealed a fifth place finish with a 17-7 win over the USA while China defeated ROC 22-10 to take the seventh place.