The men of the German Handball Association (DHB) will face, among others, Sweden, third in the European Championship, in the group phase of the Olympic handball tournament (July 25th to August 11th) in Paris, but are initially avoiding the biggest challenge.
The DHB women have strong opponents in the preliminary round in Vice World Champion Norway and Vice European Champion Denmark. This was the result of the draw on Tuesday (April 16, 2024) in the French capital, 100 days before the start of the tournament.
However, the DHB men don’t have it easy either. In addition to Sweden, World Cup third-placed Spain, Croatia, Japan and Slovenia are waiting in Group A.
France avoids Germany as an opponent
The team of men’s national coach Alfred Gislason escaped a duel with defending champions and European champions France thanks to France national coach Guillaume Gille.
At the end of the draw, the long-time Bundesliga professional had a free choice and decided to go into a group with world champions Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Egypt and Argentina.
France women against Spain
The women will also face Slovenia, Sweden and South Korea in Group A.
The French women’s coach, Olivier Krumbholz, also decided against the German group. The defending champions and world champions will instead face Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil and Angola in Group B.
Quarterfinals are the minimum goal
In the Olympic handball tournament, the five preliminary round games of each nation will be played in the Arena Paris Sud in the French capital, with the final rounds then taking place in Lille. For the first time since 2008, the DHB is represented by both the men’s team and the women’s team. The initial goal for both is to reach the quarter-finals.
For both the men of national coach Alfred Gislason and the women, “we don’t want to go home after the five games in Paris,” said DHB sports director Axel Kromer at the weekend after the successful qualification of national coach Markus Gaugisch’s women’s team in Neu Ulm. The men had secured their ticket to the Olympic tournament in Hanover.
