With the sparkling silver medal around their necks, Germany’s handball players were able to smile again. It didn’t take long for pride over their impressive Olympic run to replace frustration over the embarrassing final defeat against Denmark. “We’ve landed in the Olympic final. If someone had told us that beforehand, we would have signed the contract in blood. I hope that this result in the final doesn’t overshadow our tournament performance,” said left winger Rune Dahmke. And Kai Häfner said after his 151st and final game for the German Handball Association: “The more the game moves away, the greater the joy of silver.”
After sensational tournament victories against European champions France and arch-rivals Spain, the completely overwhelmed DHB selection lost in the final in Lille against world champions Denmark, including world handball player Mathias Gidsel, 26:39 (12:21), thus missing the crowning glory of a previously great Olympic performance. “Of course we had imagined a different final, but the tournament result is still terrific,” summed up DHB sports director Axel Kromer.
Not everyone in the German team was so happy about their sensational place in the final. “We are extremely disappointed with our performance. It really hurts right now,” said captain Johannes Golla, summing up: “Today was perhaps our worst game.” Playmaker Juri Knorr felt like he was in a “nightmare” immediately after the final whistle and admitted contritely: “We can’t present ourselves like that, we don’t deserve a gold medal. That’s clear.”
Historic bankruptcy
Gislason was unhappy with the defensive performance, but also pointed out: “We are by far the youngest team and we played a great tournament.” However, the defeat in the final went down in history: It was the biggest defeat in an Olympic final ever. Germany destroyed its gold dreams above all with abysmal defensive performance. The Danes were able to walk through the German defense at times completely unchallenged and without resistance.
Despite the bitter defeat, Knorr and Co. gave the German Handball Association the greatest success in recent history since the Olympic silver medal in Athens in 2004, the World Cup triumph in 2007 in their own country and the European Championship coup in 2016. The fact that Gislason won the silver medal with the youngest of all Olympic teams allows the association to dream of a glorious future – even if the game against Denmark left a different impression. “We definitely have a good future ahead of us, but we still have a lot to learn,” said Knorr, who was the best German scorer with six goals in front of around 27,000 fans in the cauldron of Lille.
Last German Olympic victory in 1980
The Scandinavians, led by star player Gidsel from Füchse Berlin, underlined their dominance in world handball with their second Olympic gold after 2016 in Rio. After the subsequent World Cup triumphs in 2019, 2021 and 2023, it is already the fifth major tournament victory in the past eight years.
For Germany, however, the success of the GDR selection in 1980 in Moscow remains the only title to date for an indoor handball team under the five rings. In 2004 in Athens, Stefan Kretzschmar’s selection had to admit defeat to the Croatians in the final. Eight years ago in Rio, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff and his teammates won bronze.
Poor defense, poor attack
After the epic quarter-final victory over France, the DHB team firmly believed in the gold coup. The six-second miracle in Lille, in which striker Renars Uscins saved the German selection with the final whistle and sent them into extra time, should have inspired the whole team. But in the final against Denmark, their nerves failed.
The Danes scored at will from almost every position. Their efficiency in the first half was at times 90 percent. In addition, their offensive defense caused the DHB team great problems. The young German squad seemed nervous and found no way to break through the Danish defense. “We have to work our way in,” demanded Gislason when his charges were 5:10 behind after numerous passing errors.
The German fans tried to entertain themselves in the stands with a Mexican wave, because their men’s performance on the field did not offer much cause for celebration. After 20 minutes, the game was already decided and Denmark, after a show of power, took a double-digit lead for the first time.
Wolff with 3 saves after 35 minutes
Anyone who had hoped for an improvement in the German team’s performance after the break was disappointed. The passes to the circle and to captain Johannes Golla were unsuccessful, the finishes were imprecise and the goalkeeper’s performance was poor.
Wolff made three saves after 35 minutes. This was also because the defense was a complete disaster. Never before has a team conceded so many goals in an Olympic final. Denmark’s Gidsel was able to crown himself the tournament’s top scorer with little to no opposition.
