Men's Handball Olympic Qualification Tournaments: Croatia, Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, and Hungary secure Paris quotas
The final six quotas for Paris 2024 were decided across three Men's Handball Olympic Qualification Tournaments, with Croatia, Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, and Hungary adding their names to the roster.
The tournaments came to a climactic conclusion on Sunday (17 March), with four quota places decided. Germany beat Austria 34-31 to kick off the qualification marathon.
The neighbouring countries were embroiled in an epic contest, with the latter bagging a narrow three-point win victory to secure their place at the quadrennial showpiece.
The match was a repeat of the 1936 Olympic Games final, with the result again going in favour of the Germans. Austria have not qualified for the handball tournament at the Olympic Games since that final.
Germany held a slender three-point lead going into the halftime break and maintained that advantage in the second half to clinch the victory. The hosts enjoyed a five-point lead twice in the match, but the gutsy Austrians clawed their way back to make it a tightly fought contest.
The Austrians came into the clash with a glimmer of hope after enforcing a 22-22 draw against Germany at the European Championship two months ago.
Germany featured in all but one of the 14 handball tournaments at the Olympic Games since winning the inaugural gold medal in 1936.
Norway and Croatia obtained their quotas for Paris 2024 on Saturday with a game in hand each, while four more teams would be confirmed in Sunday’s matches.
*National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes and teams' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Meanwhile, Spain held off a spirited Brazilian side with a narrow 28-26 victory to secure their Olympic quota after winning all three of their matches on home soil.
Brazil needed a victory for a shot at featuring at this year’s Olympic Games, while a 19-point loss would have sunk Spain’s chances.
Brazil came painstakingly close to upsetting the hosts by levelling the scores at 26-26 with two minutes on the clock. Gedeon Guardiola scored the two decisive goals in the dying moments of the match. Spain now has a chance at adding more silverware to the four bronze medals they won in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008, and Tokyo 2020 (in 2021).
The win was good news for Slovenia, whose Olympic hopes were in the hands of the Spanish after they scaled their first hurdle towards qualification. Slovenia beat Bahrain 32-27 in their final match, with the result between Spain and Brazil ultimately deciding their fate.
Portugal and hosts Hungary were caught up in a battle royale for the final available Olympic quota, with the match going down to the wire. The match was evenly poised on 16-16 at the recess, with the tit-for-tat battle continuing until the dying minutes of the tussle.
Two minutes from time, Hungary got their noses in front, taking a slender two-point lead before adding one more, which proved enough to secure a 30-27 victory.