Larin beat North Macedonia's Dejan Georgievski 15-9 at the Makuhari Messe Hall A to claim the gold medal - having topped the world rankings in the category heading into the Olympics.

After winning gold, he said: "There are so many emotions that I have not yet fully realized what happened.

"Probably, understanding will come in a few days. 

"Now, I am overwhelmed with pride and joy for the team, for our country, for the work done. 

"I am grateful to all the guys in our team."

Larin was born on October 7 1995 in the village of Kotkozero, before moving to Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia, and taking up the sport of taekwondo in 2002 after first being interested in artistic gymnastics.

Larin broke onto the scene in 2015 with a bronze medal in the under-87kg category in the World Championships. 

A silver medal in the over-80kg category at the Baku 2015 European Games followed, and two months later, he won silver in the same division at the Moscow Grand Prix.

Larin then won gold in the under-87kg class at the European Championships in Montreux in 2016, before winning silver in the same class at the 2017 World Championships in Muju. 

The silver medal set him up for continued success in 2018 and beyond.

Of his six career Grand Prix victories, four came in the over-80kg category in 2018. 

Larin defended his European crown in the same year, before adding the under-87kg world title in 2019.

For winning gold at the 2019 World Championships in Manchester, Larin received an award for Contribution to Development of the Republic of Karelia in the Russian Federation.

Larin was also awarded the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation in 2016.

Before this year, no Russian had won an Olympic taekwondo title, but Larin's success followed Maksim Khramtsov winning the men's under-80kg category.