As the French men's handball side kissed their gold medal, the curtain for the handball tournament at Beijing Olympic Games finally closed here on Sunday. The Europeans maintained their dominance in this sport, with a clean podium sweep.
France's grand slam
Two world titles and one European trophy, the French men's handball squad finally completed their glory collection in Beijing.
France own a pool of world-class players and claimed the title with a unbeaten record. Possessing the highest save rate in the tournament, keeper Thierry Omeyer entered the all-star squad, together with pivot Bertrand Gille and left back Daniel Narcisse.
Nikola Karabatic, newly elected International Handball Federation (IHF) World Handball Player of the Year in 2007, played a leading role in the star-stunned attack formation with his beating all assists and powerful shots. Owing to his eight goals in the final, "Les bleus" enjoyed an overwhelming victory against Iceland.
"We lost in the quarterfinals in last Olympics. That was a nightmare, really a nightmare. It took us long time to forget it. But I think it is maybe part of Olympics. We lost and learned from it, and today we won because of it," said the 24-year-old left back, whose team finished fifth at Athens 2004 Games.
Scandinavian women's straight rule
Danish women's handball used to enjoy a comfortable reign in the Olympic arena, winning three straight Olympic gold medals from 1996 to 2004. However, the failure to qualify for the Beijing Games could suggest the end of their era. And their North European neighbour Norway succeeded the supremacy, downing world champion Russia 34-27 to reap the Norwegians' first, and the Vikings' fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the women's handball.
It was the first time for the newly crowned European champion to stand atop the Olympic podium in the event. Although reaching Olympic semifinals four times since 1988, Norway had no gold medal to their name. Before the landslide victory, their best result had been two Olympic silvers, respectively at 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
After celebrating the gold medal, coach Marit Breivik attributed the win to the sound development of handball in Norway.
"We have boasted a large number of handball players and good coaches. Norwegian girls begin to play in handball schools when they are only five to six years old. They have good chances to meet high level coaches during the early ages. And many excellent players work as coaches of junior teams after their retirement, passing their experience to the teenagers." said Breivik.
And the flourishing development of handball can also be seen in other part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Boasting an incredible enthusiasm towards handball, countries like Norway and Denmark have built up a well-developed and mature league system, providing a continuable source of outstanding players to the national team.
Giant killers and killed giants
The handball tournament at Beijing Olympic Games witnessed the giant-killing feats from several dark horses.
Being an underdog in the handball world, Iceland have taken part in Olympic handball tournaments for five times, with its best finish a fourth place in 1992 in Barcelona.
The ninth finisher in 2004 Athens Games made history after they thrashed Spain 36-30 in Friday's semifinals, equaling the country's highest achievement at Olympics. The silver was not only the Icelanders' first Olympic handball medal, but also the only medal earned by Iceland at Beijing Games.
On their way to cruise to the podium, the island country with a population of about 316,000, trounced a number of handball titans, including reigning world champion Germany, Athens Games bronze medallist Russia, 2007 World Championship runner-up Poland and 2005 world champ Spain.
In the women's event, the host team China brought surprise and jubilation to local fans as the 21st placer in 2007 World Championship downed the fifth France and the seventh Angola to enter the quarterfinals.
Debutant Sweden also managed to make a dent by reaching the top eight, ruling out 2007 World Championship third finisher Germany and Pan American champion Brazil in the round-robin stage.
Meanwhile, traditional power Germany met Waterloo in Beijing, with their heavily favored men's squad following the female side's suit to be swept out in the preliminaries.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2008)