Most sports in the Olympics, I don’t have a clue who’s good and who isn’t other than from 1) world rankings or 2) world championships. Can you blame me? Handball is one of the best sports in the world, but for whatever reason it never caught on in America. I *love* this sport. I play the Handball 21 video game despite all of its flaws. Handball is awesome, and it should be more popular than soccer.
Tokyo 2020 results:
| Medal | Men |
| Gold | France |
| Silver | Denmark |
| Bronze | Spain |
| Medal | Women |
| Gold | France |
| Silver | Russia |
| Bronze | Norway |
Men’s outlook (as of June 13, 2023):
My first response is to go with who won it last time. Then I go to the home nation. As it turns out, both are one and the same! France swept in Tokyo, so you’d figure they’d repeat in Paris.
But in the 2023 World Men’s Handball Championship, Denmark beat France for the gold. Otherwise, it was the same three teams winning the medals. So, do I go with the defending champs? Do I go with the home team? Do I go with the world champs? Well, as Meat Loaf said, two out of three ain’t bad.
2024 projections:
| Medal | Men |
| Gold | France |
| Silver | Denmark |
| Bronze | Spain |
Women’s outlook (as of June 13, 2023):
These will most likely change after the World Women’s Handball Championship this December. For the moment, I’m going to project the same gold medalists, but some differences below.
Update (June 26, 2024):
I’m sticking with France as champions, but what with Norway winning the 2023 World Championship, I’ve bumped them up, and added 2022 European champion Denmark.
2024 projections:
| Medal | Women |
| Gold | France |
| Silver | Norway |
| Bronze | Denmark |
Projected medal count:
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| France | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Denmark | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Norway | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Tommy A. Phillips 