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| Event type

Handball, Men

Date29 July – 12 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationCopper Box, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants176 from 12 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advance teams to classification matches.

The men’s field was strong. The top 7 nations of the 2011 World Championships all qualified for the Games. There was one nation standing out, however: France. As the reigning Olympic champions, they had also claimed the 2009 and 2011 world titles. The only blemish on their record was the 2012 European Championships, where they finished only 10th (after winning the 2010 edition). That title had gone to Denmark, which had also been runner-up at the World Championships, and could thus be seen as the chief challenger of the French.

The pool matches provided little surprises, but the quarter-finals were all closely fought. Hungary beat 2008 silver medallists Iceland 34-33 after two extra time periods, while France beat Spain despite a three-goal deficit at half-time. Croatia had also been behind against Tunisia but prevailed, as did Sweden, which ousted neighbours Denmark. As in 2008, France and Croatia met in the semi-finals, and as then, the French won, bringing them very close to becoming the first ever team to retain an Olympic handball title. Sweden earned a one-goal win over Hungary for their nation’s fourth Olympic final berth, having lost the previous three. The two finalists had also played each other in the group phase, France winning 29-26 over the Scandinavians.

Cheered on by a large contingent of French supporters, the defending champions set down a strong defense, with a leading role for goalie Thierry Omeyer. At the break, the score was only 10-8, and the match remained tight throughout the second half. The closing stages were exciting. With just a minute on the clock, Niclas Ekberg brought Sweden back within one goal of the French. Luc Abalo responded quickly with a powerful shot to make it 22-20. That goal proved decisive, despite Sweden making it 22-21 with just 23 seconds on the clock.

In October 2012, it became known that several French handball players were investigated in a match-fixing scandal in the French competition. Among those questioned as part of the investigation were Nikola Karabatic, France’s handball star and Samuel Honrubia, both on the gold medal team.

PosCompetitorsNOC
1FranceFRAGold1
Jérôme FernandezDidier DinartXavier BarachetGuillaume GilleBertrand GilleDaniel NarcisseGuillaume JoliSamuel HonrubiaDaouda KarabouéNikola KarabaticThierry OmeyerWilliam AccambrayLuc AbaloCédric SorhaindoMichaël Guigou
2SwedenSWESilver2
Mattias AnderssonMattias Gustafsson 3Kim AnderssonJonas KällmanMagnus JernemyrNiclas EkbergDalibor DoderJonas LarholmTobias KarlssonJohan JakobssonJohan SjöstrandFredrik PetersenKim Ekdahl du RietzAndreas NilssonMattias Zachrisson (DNS)
3CroatiaCROBronze4
Venio LosertIvano BalićDomagoj DuvnjakBlaženko LackovićMarko KopljarIgor VoriJakov GojunZlatko HorvatDrago VukovićDamir BičanićDenis BuntićMirko AlilovićManuel ŠtrlekIvan ČupićIvan Ninčević
4HungaryHUN5
Ferenc IlyésGábor CsászárTamás MocsaiGergő IváncsikGergely HarsányiBarna PuticsNándor FazekasCarlos PérezRoland MiklerBalázs LaluskaLászló NagyPéter GulyásAttila VadkertiSzabolcs ZubaiTimuzsin SchuchMáté Lékai
5IcelandISL6
Björgvin GústavssonVignir SvavarssonKári Kristján KristjánssonAron PálmarssonIngimundur IngimundarsonÁsgeir Örn HallgrímssonArnór AtlasonGuðjón Valur SigurðssonSnorri GuðjónssonÓlafur StefánssonAlexander PeterssonHreiðar GuðmundssonSverre JakobssonRóbert GunnarssonÓlafur Bjarki Ragnarsson (DNS)
6DenmarkDEN7
Niklas LandinThomas MogensenLasse BoesenRasmus Lauge SchmidtNikolaj MarkussenAnders EggertBo SpellerbergMichael V. KnudsenLasse SvanHans LindbergRené Toft HansenMarcus CleverlyKasper SøndergaardMikkel HansenKasper Nielsen
7SpainESP8
José Javier HombradosEduardo GurbindoAlbert RocasJorge MaquedaVíctor TomásRaúl EntrerríosMikel AguirrezabalagaDani SarmientoJulen AguinagaldeCristian UgaldeArpad ŠterbikJoan CañellasViran MorrosGedeón GuardiolaValero Rivera (DNS)
8TunisiaTUN9
Selim HedouiAymen ToumiMahmoud GharbiIssam TejJaleleddine TouatiOuissem HmamAmine BannourKamel AlouiniMarouen MaggaizWassim HelalWael JallouzHaikel MeguennemAnouar AyedOussama BoughanmiMarouan Chouiref
9SerbiaSRB10
Dragan MarjanacŽarko ŠešumMarko VujinIvan NikčevićNikola ManojlovićAlem ToskićDarko StanićMomir IlićDobrivoje MarkovićRajko ProdanovićMomir RnićBojan BeljanskiNenad VučkovićDalibor ČuturaIvan Stanković
10ArgentinaARG11
Matías SchulzFederico FernándezFederico PizarroSebastián SimonetPablo PortelaDiego SimonetAndrés KogovsekMariano CánepaLeonardo QuerinFederico VieyraGuido RiccobelliFernando GarcíaGonzalo CarouDamián MiguelesJuan Manuel Vázquez
11Republic of KoreaKOR12
Lee Chang-UJeong Ui-GyeongPark Gyeong-SeokJeong Su-YeongPark Jung-GyuIm Deok-JunPark Chan-YeongLee Jae-UYu Dong-GeunJeong HanBaek Won-CheolGo Gyeong-SuEom Hyo-WonYun Gyeong-SinJeong Jin-Ho (DNS)
12Great BritainGBR13
Jesper ParkerCiaran WilliamsSebastian PrietoChristopher MohrBobby WhiteSteven LarssonMartin HareDaniel McMillanMark HawkinsChris McDermottRobin GarnhamSebastien EdgarJohn PearceGawain VincentNick Satchwell (DNS)

Preliminary Round

Date

Group A

PosTeamNOCWinsDrawsLossesPointsGoals
1IcelandISL50010167-132
2FranceFRA4018159-110
3SwedenSWE3026156-115
4TunisiaTUN2034121-125
5ArgentinaARG1042113-138
6Great BritainGBR005096-192
MatchDate/TimeTeamNOCResultTeamNOC
Match #129 Jul 9:30Gústavsson / Guðmundsson / Svavarsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL31 – 25Carou / Fernández / García / Kogovsek / Migueles / Pizarro / Portela / Querin / Riccobelli / Vieyra / Schulz / Simonet / Simonet / VázquezARG
Match #229 Jul 14:30Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE28 – 21Bannour / Boughanmi / Chouiref / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Hmam / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN
Match #329 Jul 19:30Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Karaboué / Dinart / Gille / Joli / Fernandez / Abalo / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / BarachetFRA44 – 15Parker / White / Williams / Prieto / Mohr / Larsson / Hare / McMillan / Hawkins / McDermott / Garnham / Edgar / Pearce / VincentGBR
Match #431 Jul 11:15Gústavsson / Guðmundsson / Svavarsson / Kristjánsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL32 – 22Bannour / Boughanmi / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Hmam / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN
Match #531 Jul 16:15Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Gustafsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE41 – 19Parker / White / Williams / Prieto / Mohr / Larsson / Hare / McMillan / Hawkins / McDermott / Garnham / Edgar / Pearce / VincentGBR
Match #631 Jul 21:15Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Karaboué / Dinart / Gille / Joli / Fernandez / Abalo / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / BarachetFRA32 – 20Carou / Fernández / García / Kogovsek / Migueles / Pizarro / Portela / Querin / Riccobelli / Vieyra / Schulz / Simonet / Simonet / VázquezARG
Match #702 Aug 11:15Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Karaboué / Dinart / Gille / Joli / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / BarachetFRA25 – 19Bannour / Boughanmi / Chouiref / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN
Match #802 Aug 16:15Carou / Fernández / García / Kogovsek / Migueles / Pizarro / Portela / Querin / Riccobelli / Vieyra / Schulz / Simonet / Simonet / VázquezARG32 – 21Parker / White / Williams / Prieto / Mohr / Larsson / Hare / McMillan / Hawkins / McDermott / Garnham / Edgar / Pearce / VincentGBR
Match #902 Aug 21:15Gústavsson / Guðmundsson / Svavarsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL33 – 32Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE
Match #1004 Aug 9:30Boughanmi / Chouiref / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Hmam / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN34 – 17Parker / White / Williams / Prieto / Mohr / Larsson / Hare / McMillan / Hawkins / McDermott / Garnham / Edgar / Pearce / VincentGBR
Match #1104 Aug 14:30Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Gustafsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE29 – 13Carou / Fernández / García / Kogovsek / Migueles / Pizarro / Portela / Querin / Riccobelli / Vieyra / Schulz / Simonet / Simonet / VázquezARG
Match #1204 Aug 19:30Gústavsson / Svavarsson / Kristjánsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL30 – 29Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Dinart / Gille / Joli / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / BarachetFRA
Match #1306 Aug 11:15Ayed / Bannour / Boughanmi / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Hmam / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN25 – 23Cánepa / Carou / Fernández / García / Kogovsek / Migueles / Pizarro / Portela / Querin / Riccobelli / Vieyra / Schulz / Simonet / SimonetARG
Match #1406 Aug 16:15Gústavsson / Guðmundsson / Svavarsson / Kristjánsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL41 – 24Parker / White / Williams / Prieto / Mohr / Larsson / Hare / McMillan / Hawkins / McDermott / Garnham / Edgar / Pearce / VincentGBR
Match #1506 Aug 21:15Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Karaboué / Dinart / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / BarachetFRA29 – 26Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Gustafsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE

Group B

PosTeamNOCWinsDrawsLossesPointsGoals
1CroatiaCRO50010150-109
2DenmarkDEN4018124-129
3SpainESP3026140-126
4HungaryHUN2034114-128
5SerbiaSRB1042120-131
6Republic of KoreaKOR0050115-140
MatchDate/TimeTeamNOCResultTeamNOC
Match #129 Jul 11:15Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Ninčević / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO31 – 21Yun / Jeong / Lee / Im / Park / Park / Baek / Yu / Jeong / Go / Park / Lee / Jeong / EomKOR
Match #229 Jul 16:15Hombrados / Šterbik / Gurbindo / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Sarmiento / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP26 – 21Stanić / Nikčević / Marković / Prodanović / Beljanski / Toskić / Ilić / Rnić / Manojlović / Čutura / Vučković / Vujin / StankovićSRB
Match #329 Jul 21:15Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Svan / Mogensen / Knudsen / Lindberg / CleverlyDEN27 – 25Iváncsik / Mikler / Pérez / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Gulyás / Harsányi / Ilyés / Lékai / Mocsai / NagyHUN
Match #431 Jul 11:15Iváncsik / Mikler / Pérez / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Gulyás / Harsányi / Ilyés / Lékai / Mocsai / NagyHUN22 – 19Yun / Jeong / Lee / Im / Park / Park / Baek / Yu / Jeong / Go / Park / Lee / Jeong / EomKOR
Match #531 Jul 16:15Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Ninčević / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO31 – 23Stanić / Marjanac / Nikčević / Marković / Prodanović / Beljanski / Toskić / Ilić / Rnić / Manojlović / Čutura / Vučković / Vujin / StankovićSRB
Match #631 Jul 21:15Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Svan / Mogensen / Knudsen / Lindberg / Cleverly / Lauge SchmidtDEN24 – 23Hombrados / Gurbindo / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Sarmiento / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP
Match #702 Aug 9:30Hombrados / Šterbik / Gurbindo / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Sarmiento / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP33 – 29Yun / Jeong / Lee / Im / Park / Park / Baek / Yu / Jeong / Go / Lee / Jeong / EomKOR
Match #802 Aug 14:30Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Ninčević / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO26 – 19Iváncsik / Mikler / Pérez / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Gulyás / Harsányi / Ilyés / Lékai / Mocsai / NagyHUN
Match #902 Aug 19:30Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Mogensen / Knudsen / Lindberg / Cleverly / Lauge SchmidtDEN26 – 25Stanić / Marjanac / Nikčević / Prodanović / Beljanski / Toskić / Ilić / Šešum / Rnić / Manojlović / Čutura / Vučković / Vujin / StankovićSRB
Match #1004 Aug 11:15Stanić / Nikčević / Prodanović / Beljanski / Toskić / Ilić / Šešum / Rnić / Manojlović / Čutura / Vučković / Vujin / StankovićSRB28 – 22Yun / Lee / Im / Park / Park / Baek / Yu / Jeong / Go / Park / Lee / Jeong / EomKOR
Match #1104 Aug 16:15Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Ninčević / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO32 – 21Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Boesen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Svan / Mogensen / Knudsen / Lindberg / CleverlyDEN
Match #1204 Aug 21:15Hombrados / Šterbik / Gurbindo / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Sarmiento / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP33 – 22Iváncsik / Mikler / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Harsányi / Ilyés / Laluska / Lékai / Mocsai / Putics / NagyHUN
Match #1306 Aug 9:30Iváncsik / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Harsányi / Ilyés / Lékai / Mocsai / Putics / NagyHUN26 – 23Stanić / Marjanac / Nikčević / Prodanović / Beljanski / Toskić / Ilić / Šešum / Rnić / Manojlović / Čutura / Vučković / Vujin / StankovićSRB
Match #1406 Aug 14:30Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Boesen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Svan / Mogensen / Knudsen / Lindberg / CleverlyDEN26 – 24Yun / Lee / Im / Park / Park / Baek / Yu / Jeong / Go / Park / Lee / Jeong / EomKOR
Match #1506 Aug 19:30Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Ninčević / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO30 – 25Hombrados / Šterbik / Gurbindo / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP

Quarter-Finals

Date
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #108 Aug 11:00Iváncsik / Schuch / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Harsányi / Ilyés / Laluska / Lékai / Mocsai / Putics / NagyHUN34 – 33Gústavsson / Guðmundsson / Svavarsson / Kristjánsson / Pálmarsson / Ingimundarson / Hallgrímsson / Atlason / Sigurðsson / Guðjónsson / Stefánsson / Petersson / Jakobsson / GunnarssonISL
Match #208 Aug 14:30Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Gustafsson / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE24 – 22Hansen / Hansen / Markussen / Boesen / Spellerberg / Søndergaard / Landin / Nielsen / Eggert / Mogensen / Knudsen / LindbergDEN
Match #308 Aug 18:00Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Dinart / Gille / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / Accambray / BarachetFRA23 – 22Šterbik / Rocas / Maqueda / Tomás / Entrerríos / Aguirrezabalaga / Sarmiento / Aguinagalde / Ugalde / Cañellas / Morros / GuardiolaESP
Match #408 Aug 21:30Kopljar / Alilović / Štrlek / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO25 – 23Ayed / Bannour / Boughanmi / Gharbi / Hedoui / Helal / Hmam / Jallouz / Maggaiz / Meguennem / Tej / Touati / Toumi / AlouiniTUN

Semi-Finals

Date
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #110 Aug 17:00Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Ekberg / Doder / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE27 – 26Iváncsik / Mikler / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Császár / Fazekas / Harsányi / Ilyés / Lékai / Mocsai / Putics / NagyHUN
Match #210 Aug 20:30Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Dinart / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Honrubia / Omeyer / Accambray / BarachetFRA25 – 22Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Čupić / Horvat / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Bičanić / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO

Final Round

Date
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match 1/212 Aug 15:00Gille / Sorhaindo / Narcisse / Dinart / Gille / Fernandez / Abalo / Guigou / Karabatic / Omeyer / Accambray / BarachetFRA22 – 21Sjöstrand / Petersen / Nilsson / Larholm / Källman / Karlsson / Jernemyr / Jakobsson / Ekberg / Andersson / Andersson / Ekdahl du RietzSWE
Match 3/412 Aug 11:00Kopljar / Alilović / Losert / Štrlek / Čupić / Vori / Balić / Lacković / Duvnjak / Vuković / Gojun / BuntićCRO33 – 26Iváncsik / Mikler / Schuch / Vadkerti / Zubai / Fazekas / Harsányi / Ilyés / Laluska / Lékai / Mocsai / Putics / NagyHUN