Olympic Games history was made as Fiji won gold in the men’s rugby sevens competition in style at the Deodoro Stadium on Thursday.

In defeating Great Britain 43-7 in a high-quality and pulsating final, Fiji won their nation’s first-ever Olympic medal, became the first men’s rugby Olympic gold medallists in 92 years and the first men’s rugby sevens gold medal winners.

Over six days of high drama, unforgettable moments and spectacular sevens, rugby was the winner. It may have been seven years in the making from inclusion on the Olympic programme, but the wait was worth every second and how the fans loved it.

Showcased on sport’s biggest broadcast stage, rugby sevens at Rio 2016 has been a hit. With its fast, dynamic and entertaining format, sevens has reached and inspired new audiences around the world as social media buzzed with excitement.

A mouth-watering final pitted HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions Fiji against Great Britain. With an historic Olympic gold medal beckoning, the contest was always going to inspire, and Fiji were simply irresistible, demonstrating their collective brilliance.

Day Three Results:

Brazil 0-24 Kenya – A hat-trick from Billy Odhiambo led Kenya to victory over Brazil, with Willie Ambaka also crossing to secure eleventh place for the Kenyans. Odhiambo scored twice in the first-half before adding another after Ambaka’s 12th minute effort.

USA 24-12 Spain – USA ended their Rio campaign on a positive note as they defeated Spain thanks to tries from Danny Barrett, Carlin Isles (2) and Maka Unufe. Spain crossed the line first through Pablo Fontes before Angel Lopez scored in the second-half.

New Zealand 24-19 France – New Zealand progressed into the fifth-place game with tries from Regan Ware (2), Akira Ioane and Rieko Ioane seeing them prevail. Stephen Parez (2) and Sacha Valleau scored for France who go into the seventh-place match.

Argentina 26-21 Australia – Two late tries from Matías Moroni helped Argentina come from behind to beat Australia and book a clash with New Zealand for fifth spot. Gaston Revol also scored two while Tom Cusack (2) and Con Foley crossed for Australia.

Semi-final: Fiji 20-5 Japan – Fiji booked a spot in the Gold Medal match after showing their class against Japan, scoring four tries to one. Vatemo Ravouvou, Josua Tuisova, Semi Kunatani and Jerry Tuwai crossed for the Fijians while Teruya Goto scored for Japan.

Semi-final: Great Britain 7-5 South Africa – It was another nail-biter for Team GB as they followed up yesterday’s drama against Argentina with this win. South Africa led via Kyle Brown’s try but Dan Norton’s effort was crucially converted before Great Britain held on.

7th place: France 12-10 Australia – France turned a 0-5 deficit early on into a 12-5 lead thanks to tries from Terry Bouhraoua and Julien Candelon, who stepped two defenders to score what turned out to be the winning try. Bouhraoua added the conversion to seal the win although  Ed Jenkins scored a five-pointer for Australia at the death, but the conversion was wide, which ultimately proved costly.

5th place: New Zealand 17-14 Argentina – After a tight first-half in which they took a 5-0 lead, New Zealand ran away with the game in the second, scoring two further tries through Tim Mikkelson and Rieko Ioane to give the All Blacks a commanding 17-0 lead. With less than a minute left on the clock, Argentina scored a consolation try after some superb individual work by Juan Imhoff who created space on the outside before receiving the inside pass and with pace to burn crossed the whitewash for a well-worked try.