Princess Anne had the honour of presenting the rugby sevens medal ceremony yesterday in Rio, as she handed gold, silver and bronze out to the top three teams.
In their first ever Olympic medal, Fiji won gold in the men’s rugby sevens competition after storming to victory against Great Britain last night in Rio.
Great Britain lost in the final, but still won a silver medal, followed by South Africa in the bronze medal position.
As the Princess Royal placed the gold medals over the Fijian athletes’ necks, they knelt down and clapped three times as a mark of respect for the Queen’s daughter.
In Fijian culture, clapping three times is performed during a traditional Kava ceremony, which signifies the bringing together of two families.
Fiji became victorious in the sport after demolishing Great Britain 43-7 in the final on Thursday. The gold becomes the first medal of any colour the country has ever won, much to the joy of citizens watching at home.
Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, said: “It’s history in the making. We are all proud to be Fijians right now. We hope the brand of rugby we played today justified the inclusion of rugby in the Olympics and it also propped up tiny nation like us. We don’t have the money and the bucks that Britain has but we managed to beat them.”
Princess Anne arrived in Rio de Janerio three days before the 2016 Olympic Games officially got underway with the Opening Ceremony.
During her two week visit she has attended a variety of sporting events and ceremonies where she has represented the United Kingdom.
Princess Anne famously competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec but did not take home a medal.