Denmark’s women claimed their first Olympic medal in 20 years on Saturday morning in a hard-fought 30:25 victory over fierce rivals and neighbours Sweden to claim bronze in Lille.
The first half had a bit more tension than the classic bronze medal match. Bronze always means something at international level but the Olympics take that to another level, as Jure Dolenec told us earlier in the week, 4th or 12th, it doesn’t matter.
Add the spicy ingredient of these teams straight up not liking each other, and the first half’s vibe made sense.
Toft on top
Sandra Toft won the goalkeeper battle by a landslide but Denmark were not able to make it count on the scoreboard. A 4:0 run midway through the half gave the Danes an advantage that they would hold onto until the break.
Sweden introduced Evelina Eriksson in goal, who helped to redress the balance between the keepers, set up some easy goals and provided a bit of hope as they went into the half-time break 15:13 down.
Denmark began the second half with a flourish and opened up a four-goal lead but you got the feeling that it wouldn’t take too much of a swing for Sweden to get back on terms.
Tensions rise
The match became messier as time wore on. Suspensions, penalties, turnovers and intimidation became the order of the day as the motivation became not losing the game, rather than winning it.
A timeout from Jesper Jensen with just under 10 minutes left to play saw Denmark stretch their lead to four again with six minutes remaining and the Swedes looked defeated. Denmark’s ability to hurt their opponents in every position was too much to handle, while Toft and her defence reigned supreme.
Once again, Denmark’s mental fortitude came to the fore. On the back of a crushing loss to Norway, they kept faith in their approach and delivered a long-awaited Olympic medal. As for Sweden, despite being closer to the top than ever before, it’s another fourth-placed finish and the wait goes on.