Latvia win first-ever Olympic golds in 3x3 basketball

Latvia won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in 3x3 men's basketball after defeating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team 21-18, while the U.S. triumphed in the women's event at Tokyo 2020 here on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

The final between the two powerhouses in men's session was nail-biting. The ROC used a 9-4 to get an upper hand in the first minutes. But Latvia took everything to keep the opponents within range and clawed back step by step to even the game 13-13.

Leading by 19-18, Latvia got the ball back after a challenge with 32 seconds to go and Karlis Lasmanis hit a 2-pointer to nail down the victory for Latvia.

This is the first gold medal that Latvia has won in Tokyo Olympics.

In women's gold medal game, the ROC women also suffered a painful loss of 18-15 to the Americans.

In a breath-taking thriller that happened earlier on Wednesday night, the U.S. scored the first point of the game and the ROC came back with a layup within seconds. U.S. used a 11-4 run to get an upper hand by 12-5. The ROC managed to come back to 12-9 but failed to write off the deficit.

Serbia's men's team brought home the bronze. China's women's team won the bronze medal after defeating France.

As world's No. 1 urban team sport, 3x3 basketball made its first appearance at an Olympic Games in Tokyo.