If you had to give an adjective to the Spanish Olympic men’s handball team, it would undoubtedly be the bronze team. He has been on the podium five times and all five times he has made it to the third step, the last in Paris after defeating a Slovenia that did not give up (23-22). And all five have been in the last eight editions of the Olympic Games.
Bronze in Atlanta’96, bronze in Sydney’00, Bronze in Beijing’08, a long period without a reward – seventh in London’12 and did not qualify for Rio’16-, bronze in Tokyo and bronze in Paris. History keeps repeating itself.
Spain, with 12, is the team with the most historical participation in Olympic men’s handball. Its premiere was in Munich ’72, when it finished in 15th place. He was absent in Montreal ’76 and in Moscow ’80 he was fifth, eighth in Los Angeles ’84, ninth in Seoul ’88, fifth again in Barcelona ’92 and stood on the podium for the first time in Atlanta, after beating France by of 27 -25. I was on the team then Talent Dujshebaevfather of the Olympians in Paris Alex and Dani, and a group of historical like Mateo Garralda, Rafa Guijosa, ‘Jota’ Hombrados, Iñaki Urdangarín either Demetrio Lozano.
Four years later, in Sydney, they repeated their success, defeating Serbia and Montenegro in the bronze medal match (22-26) with a team that included other players from the Barça ‘Dream Team’ such as David Barrufet, Enric Masip, Xavi O’Callaghan, Andrei Xepkin or the current coach of Barça Antonio Carlos Ortega.
After the interlude of Athens’04 (seventh), in Beijing’08 they returned to their bronze shelter with the help of brothers. Entrerrios, Raoul and Albert, Iker Romero either Victor Tomas. In London the ‘Hispanos’ could only finish seventh while their female alter egos, the warriors, won their first medal… bronze, of course.
Spain did not qualify to participate in the Rio’16 Games but in Tokyo, under the guidance of the current coach, Jordi Riberathey added their fourth bronze medal with the team already Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas, Jorge Maqueda, Alex Dujshebaev and Alex Gomezwhich they repeated in Paris, with players no more Eduardo Gurbindo, Viran Morros, Dani Sarmiento either Valero Rivera.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
