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Olympics 2021 updates: USA women's volleyball, basketball both win gold; Tokyo Games come to an end

The final day of competition at the Olympic Games is here. After record-breaking days in the pool and on the track, history-making feats and inspiring moments, the Games come to a close in Tokyo.

Olympics medal tracker | Schedule

The final day of action started with the men's marathon winding through the streets of Sapporo, Japan, where Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won his second consecutive gold medal in dominant fashion, beating the field by more than a minute.

Then came the evening's main event: the women's basketball gold-medal game, which saw the United States take care of Japan for its seventh consecutive gold medal. Japan's first-ever shot at gold was derailed in a 90-75 defeat, with Americans Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi each winning an unprecedented fifth gold medal.

While the Team USA women's hoops team added to its gold-medal count, the U.S. women's volleyball team got gold for the first time, dominating Brazil in a three-set sweep. That win also vaulted the Americans past China in the overall gold-medal standings, which they clinched when Chinese boxer Li Quan lost her gold-medal match to Great Britain's Lauren Price.

In other boxing, American Keyshawn Davis fell short against Cuban rival Andy Cruz in the lightweight gold-medal bout, the latest in a string of closely contested matchups between the two fighters.

Here's the best action from the last night in Tokyo:

Best moments from the closing ceremonies

USA women's indoor volleyball makes history

Looking to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal, the U.S. women's volleyball team entered Sunday's match against Brazil focused on making history.

The team won the first four points in commanding fashion -- and never looked back.

The American squad put on a dominant performance at Ariake Arena, winning in straight sets -- 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 -- in just 82 minutes. Andrea Drews and Michelle Bartsch-Hackley combined for 29 points.

"People say we're going to be under so much pressure because we've never won the gold medal," said the United States' Jordan Larson. "But we're under no pressure because we've never done it. Why not go out swinging?" -- D'Arcy Maine


USA passes China in gold medals

With three gold medals -- team golds in women's indoor volleyball and women's basketball and Jennifer Valente's cycling gold -- the United States ended the Olympics with 39 golds, one more than China's 38. The Americans already had clinched the top spot for overall medals.


USA boxer Richard Torrez Jr. takes silver

American super heavyweight boxer Richard Torrez Jr. fell to Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov by decision to take the silver medal. Torrez won the first round but couldn't overcome a dominant second round by Jalolov.


Boxer Keyshawn Davis gets silver

United States lightweight boxer Keyshawn Davis fell just short of gold, losing to Cuba's Andy Cruz.


USA women's hoops wins seventh straight gold

Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird made history by winning their fifth women's basketball gold medals with Team USA, which won its seventh straight gold by beating Japan 90-75.

The two vets, who won their first golds for Team USA in Athens in 2004, helped get the Americans out to a big lead Sunday.

Brittney Griner also did quality work for the Americans, scoring 30 points to help extend Team USA's Olympic winning streak to 55 games.

Bird and Taurasi might not be done with Olympics hoops quite yet, though.


Cycling to gold

The United States' Jennifer Valente rode to gold in the women's omnium, putting the U.S. at 38 gold medals, at that point tied with China for tops of any country.


Ingebrigtsen sets Olympic record

Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen ended his Olympics with an epic performance, as the 20-year-old raced to gold in the men's 1,500-meter run with a time of 3 minutes, 28.32 seconds.


Kipchoge goes back-to-back

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge ran it back for gold, literally, in the men's marathon in Sapporo, pulling away down the stretch to win his second consecutive gold medal. Kipchoge's winning time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 38 seconds was more than a minute better than the silver medalist, Netherlands' Abdi Nageeye.

Here's Kipchoge putting a bow on his dominant performance.

The battle for silver and bronze was also pretty epic.


The marathoner's philosophy


Backing it up

As the Olympics come to a close, here's an alternative, fun look at the action in Tokyo.


Shot-putting in real life

Gold medalist Ryan Crouser is the best in the world at shot put, but how does that relate to everyday life? Crouser shows us by shot-putting things.