Handball > Day by Day Recap

France won the last gold medal of the Beijing Games, beating Iceland, 28-23, in the men's final to deny the small Nordic country its first gold in an Olympic event. Nikola Karabatic led the scoring for France with eight goals. Despite the loss, Iceland still had reason to celebrate. Its silver medal was the nation's best showing in any event since 1956.

Norway jumped out to an 8-1 lead and cruised to a 34-27 victory over world champion Russia for the nation's first-ever Olympic gold medal in handball. For Norway, it was sweet redemption after falling to the Russians in the final of the 2007 worlds. Said Norway's Goreil Snorroeggen: "Today, Russia were not on the same level as us. It was a good day to meet them."

Top-scorer Mirza Dzomba was held to one goal on three shots as defending Olympic champion Croatia saw its hopes of a second consecutive gold medal dashed at the hands of the French. In the other men's semifinal, Iceland tied the highest point total of the tournament with a 36-30 win over Spain.

Gro Hammerseng lived up to her billing as Norway's best player, scoring as time expired to give her squad a dramatic win over South Korea and book a trip to the women's final. Russia defeated Hungary, 22-20, in the other semifinal to remain unbeaten in Olympic play.

Goran Sprem led all scorers with seven goals as defending Olympic champion Croatia moved past Denmark to reach the men's semifinals. France eased by Russia, 27-24, to stay unbeaten and set up a showdown with the team that won gold in Athens. Iceland and Spain also moved on.

Russia's Natalia Shipilova fired one home at the last minute of the second overtime to avoid a penalty shootout and give her team a 32-31 win over upstart France. The win set up a semifinal showdown against Hungary, which upset Romania. South Korea and Norway also advanced.

Denmark eliminated 2007 world champion Germany from the men's handball tournament, 27-21, and booked a place in the quarterfinals. Defending Olympic champ Croatia blasted China, 33-22, in a match that typified China's run in the tournament. The hosts didn't win a single match in pool play, and their minus-60 goal differential was the lowest of the tournament.

Norway won a see-saw battle with Romania, 24-23, to move to 5-0 and finish women's pool play as the only unbeaten, untied team. Russia won Group B after sneaking by Germany, 30-29. Angola played the role of spoiler, tying up Kazakhstan with a last-minute goal. The tie eliminated the Kazakhs, who needed a win to advance.

Icelandic ace Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson scored late to tie up Denmark on Day 8 as both teams advanced to the next round of the men's tournament. Egypt wasn't so lucky, losing to South Korea, 24-22, and falling out of medal contention. Egypt (0-3-1) lost its three matches by a combined five goals.

World champion Russia used a 14-5 run late in the game to down Hungary and clinch the women's Group B title. Romania and Norway also moved to 4-0 while Angola emerged as the day's big loser, falling to 0-4 and dropping out of contention for a medal.

After winning its first two games by a combined 22 points, France narrowly defeated defending Olympic champion Croatia, 23-19, for its biggest win of the men's tournament. Denmark's Mikkel Hansen scored in the final minute to beat Russia, 25-24, and give the Danes their first win of the Games.

In a matchup of unbeatens, Romania downed France, 34-26, to improve to 3-0 in women's pool play. Elsewhere, Norway scored a tournament-high 35 points in a blowout victory over Kazakhstan. China picked up its first win against Angola, which remained winless.

Alexey Rastvortsev scored in the 59th minute to help boost 2004 bronze-medalist Russia past Egypt, 28-27, and give the men's team its first win in Beijing. Two other games -- Spain over Poland and South Korea over Denmark -- came down to the last minute in the most thrilling day on the men's side yet.

Romania, France and Norway improved to 2-0 on the second day of women's handball pool play with the Romanians rolling over China, 34-20, to notch the squad's second game over 30 points. Angola, Kazakhstan and Sweden dropped to 0-2.

Defending Olympic champ Croatia edged Spain, 31-29, in the opening game of men's handball in Beijing, and Poland battered China, 33-19. In other action, Iceland upset Russia, France beat Brazil, and Denmark evened up South Korea, 23-23, in the lowest-scoring match of the day.

Romania scored the first three goals en route to a rout of Kazakhstan on the first day of women's handball competition, while Norway foiled host China. In the day's marquee matchup, world champion Russia tied defending Olympic champ South Korea.