Men's table tennis singles gold medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov has revealed that seeing Germany's women's team with their gold medals helped motivate him to success in his competition.
The top-seeded 26-year-old defeated world number nine Vladimir Samsonov in the gold-medal match, coming from 2-0 down to win 4-3.
Ovtcharov told reporters: "After winning the women's team event, the German girls took their gold medal to the German House here in Baku, and I took a good look at the gold medal. That provided me with some extra motivation.
"My good friend Vladi pushed me to the end. He deserved to win just as much as me."
Ovtcharov won two bronze medals in the London Olympics, having secured silver in the team event four years earlier in Beijing.
