The Asian side played the final rather like they had the entire tournament, starting slow before proving too strong for the opposition when it counted most.

They lost the first set 19-25 to a rampant Serbian team who had already guaranteed themselves a first ever Olympic medal in the event. 

Gradually, however, the Chinese third seeds began to dominate the rallies and prove more clinical at the net.

They won the second set 25-17 and then the third 25-22 before keeping then composure to win a tight fourth 25-23.

It came after the Chinese started the tournament with a sluggish loss to The Netherlands as they won just two of five preliminary round encounters. 

But they found their form with an epic comeback to defeat Brazil in the quarter-finals before avenging the Dutch for their earlier loss in the last four.

It marked the third Chinese gold in the event to follow earlier victories at Los Angeles 1984 and Athens 2004.

Coach Jenny Lang Ping formed part of the 1984 gold medal winning team and duly became the first person to win Olympic titles as both a player and as a coach

Zhu Ting was the star for China on the court, tallying 25 points to score two more than Serbia's Tijana Boskovic.

Top seeds United States had to settle for the bronze medal after beating The Netherlands earlier today.

They won 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19 to partially make amends for their heartbreaking five-set loss to Serbia in the semifinals.

Fourth still represented a great result for The Netherlands, who were competing in their first Olympics since Atlanta 1996.