Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

2008 Men's Olympic handball tournament

Medal ceremony
Tournament details
Host country	China
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Dates	9 August - 24 August
Teams	12 (from 5 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	France (1st title)
Runner-up	Iceland
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Croatia
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s)	Juan García (ESP) (49 goals)

The men's handball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held from August 10 to August 24, at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium and National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Twelve nations are represented in the men's tournament.

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round, 5th and 6th teams in each group are classified 9th-12th by the results of their group matches. The losers of quarterfinal matches competed in the 5th-8th place matches by the same elimination system as the winners of the quarterfinals.

This event was the last to be completed in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Qualification

Competition	Date	Venue	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Nation	-	-	1	China
IHF World Championships	Jan 19 - Feb 4, 2007	Germany	1	Germany
European Championships	January 17–27, 2008	Norway	1	Denmark
Asian Qualifying Tournament	January 30, 2008	Tokyo	1	South Korea
African Championships	January 10–17, 2008	Angola	1	Egypt
Pan American Games	July 14–29, 2007	Rio de Janeiro	1	Brazil
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 1	May 30 - Jun 1, 2008	Wrocław	2	Poland Iceland
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2	May 30 - Jun 1, 2008	Paris	2	France Spain
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 3	May 30 - Jun 1, 2008	Zadar	2	Croatia Russia
TOTAL			12

Olympic Qualifying Tournaments

• Tournament I:
  • Worlds 2nd: Poland
  • Worlds 7th: Iceland
  • Europe: Sweden
  • Pan-America: Argentina
• Tournament II:
  • Worlds 3rd: France
  • Worlds 6th: Spain
  • Africa: Tunisia
  • Top continent at the Worlds (Europe): Norway
• Tournament III:
  • Worlds 4th: Croatia
  • Worlds 5th: Russia
  • Asia: Japan
  • 2nd continent at the Worlds (Africa): Algeria

Preliminary round

Seeding

The draw for the groups was held 16 June 2008.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Germany	Denmark	Croatia	South Korea	Spain	Egypt
Poland	France	Russia	China	Iceland	Brazil

Rosters

Main article: Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters

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Medal round

Quarterfinal, Poland-Iceland

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal game

A2

Poland

30

B3

Iceland

32

B3

Iceland

36

A4

Spain

30

B1

South Korea

24

A4

Spain

29

Iceland

23

France

28

B2

Denmark

24

A3

Croatia

26

A3

Croatia

23

Bronze medal game

A1

France

25

A1

France

27

Spain

35

B4

Russia

24

4

Croatia

29

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Rankings and statistics

Final ranking

Classification
	France
	Iceland
	Spain
4	Croatia
5	Poland
6	Russia
7	Denmark
8	South Korea
9	Germany
10	Egypt
11	Brazil
12	China

• Source: IHF.info

All star team

• Goalkeeper: Thierry Omeyer
• Left wing: Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson
• Left back: Daniel Narcisse
• Centre back: Snorri Guðjónsson
• Right back: Ólafur Stefánsson
• Right wing: Albert Rocas
• Line player/pivot: Bertrand Gille

Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info

Top goalkeepers Rank Name Team % Saves Shots 1 Johannes Bitter Germany 41% 70 170 Thierry Omeyer France 84 204 3 Mohamed Nakib Egypt 40% 59 149 4 Sławomir Szmal Poland 37% 85 227 5 David Barrufet Spain 36% 59 165 Oleg Grams Russia 91 250 Kasper Hvidt Denmark 94 250 Alexey Kostygov Russia 31 86 Maik Santos Brazil 52 145 10 Björgvin Páll Gústavsson Iceland 33% 75 226 Han Kyung-Tai South Korea 67 204 Venio Losert Croatia 44 135

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals	Shots	%
1	Juan García	Spain	49	65	75%
2	Snorri Guðjónsson	Iceland	48	77	62%
3	Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson	Iceland	43	66	65%
4	Lars Christiansen	Denmark	42	59	71%
5	Michael Kraus	Germany	38	65	58%
6	Mariusz Jurasik	Poland	37	59	63%
	Nikola Karabatić	France		69	54%
8	Konstantin Igropulo	Russia	36	63	57%
	Jesper Nøddesbo	Denmark		47	77%
10	Bertrand Gille	France	35	48	73%
	Daniel Narcisse	France		69	51%
	Albert Rocas	Spain		54	65%

External links

• Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
• International Handball Federation
• European Handball Federation
• Team Handball News 2008 Men's Olympic Qualification Summary