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After demolishing the ROC 18-5 in group play, the U.S. were
expected to waltz into Saturday's final but the Russians gave
the reigning champions a fright before fading at the end.
Deadlocked at 11-11 late in the final quarter, the U.S. showed
their gold medal pedigree down the closing stretch by scoring
four unanswered goals, including two from Madeline Musselman.
"We're not done yet, obviously a great win and we'll probably
celebrate for one meal and that's about it and it's onto the
next game," Musselman told reporters. "That's just a testament
to what this team wants to do.
"We've had a lot of success but this team hasn't done anything
yet, we haven't won a medal yet I think we are looking for the
opportunity at fighting for one."
The U.S. await the winners of the semi-final between European
champions Spain and Hungary later on Thursday at the Tatsumi
Water Polo Centre.
Hungary had earlier pulled off a big shock in group play,
upsetting the Americans 10-9 to hand the U.S. their first
Olympic defeat since the 2008 Beijing Games.
Since 2014, U.S. have been the sport's dominant force, winning
all 13 major international tournaments in which they have
competed, including the 2015, 2017 and 2019 world championships.
The U.S. are also the only team to finish on the podium at every
Olympic Games since women's water polo was introduced to the
programme in 2000.
While the Hungarian men have long been a water polo power,
winning three consecutive gold from the 2000 Sydney Games, their
women have yet to reach the Olympic podium.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Tokyo, Editing by Ed Osmond)
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