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.