II - A Legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games

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The medal matches featured the top four teams in the
world, but their ranking changed from the 1999 world
championships, with the Russian Federation upsetting
Sweden and Spain surprising Yugoslavia.
In the ranking from fifth to seventh, nothing changed from
last year's world championships. Germany finished fifth by
defeating France 25–22 and Egypt claimed seventh by
beating Slovenia 34–28. Korea defeated Tunisia 24–19 to
decide ninth and tenth and Cuba prevailed over Australia
26–24 for 11th and 12th places.
The International Handball Federation's (IHF) Sydney 2000
Men's All-Star Handball Team was: goalkeeper, Peter Gentzel
of Sweden; left wing, Rafael Guijosa of Spain; pivot, Dragan
Skrbic of Yugoslavia; right wing, Lev Voronin of the Russian
Federation; left back, Stefan Loevgren of Sweden; centre
back, Talant Dujshebaev of Spain; right back, Paek Won-Chul
of Korea.
Women's Competition
The women's competition at the Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games equalled the men's in popularity but the outcome
was more difficult to predict. Denmark was the defending
Olympic champion, but the teams from Hungary, Austria and
Norway were all strong contenders, and Korea had won silver
in Atlanta and Olympic gold in 1988 and 1992. France,
world championship silver medallists, and Romania, ranked
fourth in the world, could not be discounted either.
At the end of the preliminary round of competition, Korea
claimed top spot in Group A and Norway led Group B. In the
quarterfinals, Korea beat Brazil 35–24, Denmark defeated
France 28–26, Hungary outlasted Austria 28–27 in a rugged
game and Norway beat Romania 28–16. This left Korea,
Denmark, Hungary and Norway to battle it out for the
medals. In the semifinal round, Hungary caused a major
upset when they beat world and European champions
Norway 28–23, setting the stage for a dramatic gold medal
game between Hungary and Denmark.
The Hungarians led the Danes by two goals at the half
(16–14) and then stretched their lead to six goals (23–17)
with only 15 minutes left in the game. Unable to stop Bojana
Radulovic, the former Yugoslavian back, Denmark called a
time-out and changed their defence, playing Radulovic one-
on-one. The Danes, who had had tasted victory in Atlanta,
ODD ANDERSEN/AFP
knew what it was like to stand on the victory dais and began
clawing their way back into the match, just as they did in
Atlanta. Led by Anette Hoffmann Moberg, Janne Kolling and
Camilla Andersen, Denmark came roaring back with six
consecutive goals and went on to win the gold medal 31–27.
The bronze medal went to Norway after they won a close
and controversial match 22–21 against Korea. In a tough
game that saw seven two-minute suspensions and two
red cards, Korea lost its star back and the competition's
second highest goal scorer, Lee Sang-Eun, with a thigh injury
early in the first half. Buoyed by a vocal crowd dressed
predominantly in red and flying Norwegian flags, Norway
levelled the scores at 15–15 in the second half. With just 90
seconds left in the game, Lee returned from her injury and
limped onto the field to convert a seven-metre penalty,
locking the scores at 21–21.
In the last minute of play, Norway's left wing, Mia Hundvin,
scored, giving her side a one-point lead. From the restart, a
Korean shot was saved by goalkeeper Heidi Tjugum, before
Kjersti Grini received the ball and stood with it as the
clock counted down. For this, Grini was given a red card, but
her actions assured the one-point win and the bronze medal
for Norway.
In the classification match for fifth and sixth places, the 1999
world championship silver and bronze medallists, France and
Austria respectively, reversed order when Austria won
an exciting game 33–32 in extra time. The classification
match for seventh and eighth places also went into extra
time with Romania defeating Brazil 38–33. Angola defeated
Australia 26–18 to decide ninth and tenth places in the
women's tournament.
The IHF Sydney 2000 Women's All-Star Handball Team was:
goalkeeper, Heidi Tjugum of Norway; left wing, Anette
Hoffmann Moberg of Denmark; centre back, Veronique
Pecquex-Roland of France; right back, Janne Kolling of
Denmark; left back, Kjersti Grini of Norway; pivot, Oh Seong-ok
of Korea; right wing, Bojana Radulovic of Hungary.
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ROBERT CIANFLONE/ALLSPORT
THE COMPETITION
Handball
Volume Two
Chapter Five
6. Danish fans turned the
arena into a sea of red
and white, cheering their
women's team on to
Olympic gold
7. Norwegian Elsa-Marthe
Soerlie (front) braves a shot
while dragged down by
Denmark's Janne Kolling
during a preliminary match
8. Danish captain Tonje
Kjaergaard with her
hard-earned gold medal
9. Agnes Farkas of
Hungary shoots during
the women's final. Hungary
was leading by six goals
but Denmark came back
from their deficit to defend
their Olympic title
5. The Competition 231
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ODD ANDERSEN/AF
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PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP