To reach the final, the defending champions overcame Czech Republic 20-15 and Poland 17-13 in the knockout round.

They met Latvia in the final, who had in turn beaten France 21-14 before crushing Belarus's dreams of a home gold with a narrow 19-17 defeat. 

The gold-medal match was close throughout, with Russia always a couple of points ahead of the trailing Latvians. 

With two minutes to go, Russia were 14-10 up.

A flurry of points saw them hit the magic 21-point mark with only ten seconds left, sparking jubilant celebrations. 

Prior to the final, Belarus had secured bronze with an impressive 21-15 win against Poland, delighting the support in the venue. 

The women's title went to France, who had stunned defending champions Russia 20-3 in the quarter-finals.

They then edged past Germany 11-10 to book a place in the gold-medal match against Estonia. 

Estonia had already chalked up a 15-11 victory against The Netherlands, before just beating Belarus 15-14, with the hosts once again falling at the final hurdle.

France were comfortable against Estonia, reaching 21 points when their opponents had only scored eight. 

"It is amazing," French star Caroline Heriaud, scorer of five points, said. 

"I am very emotional now, I don't know how to describe it."

Belarus also claimed the bronze medal in the women's event, triumphing 21-16 over Germany.

Today's action concluded the 3x3 basketball competition here. 

Teams will continue to prepare for Tokyo 2020, with the discipline set to make its Olympic debut next summer.