The last day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will also see the last matchday of the men’s handball competition, with the two medal matches seeing some fantastic matchups.

On one hand, this is the first-ever final in a major international competition between Denmark and Germany, with a special match for the Scandinavian side, which will see one of the best players ever, Mikkel Hansen, retiring. On the other hand, a young Germany team is ready to prove their worth on the biggest of stages, seeking their maiden title since the European one in 2016.

Spain and Slovenia will collide in the bronze medal match, with Spain holding the experience and the head-to-head advantage in 2024, but Slovenia are no pushovers and will look to deliver another fighting performance for their first-ever medal at the Olympics.

Paris 2024 – men’s handball competition – finals' day schedule
Sunday, 11 August

Gold medal match

• 13:30 CEST Germany vs Denmark

Bronze medal match

• 09:00 CEST Spain vs Slovenia

First final between Germany and Denmark: Believe it or not, it is the first time Germany and Denmark are facing off in a final in a major international competition, as the succesful periods of the two sides never overlapped. In fact, in the past eight years, the two sides met only twice in major international competitions, with Denmark taking two wins, 29:26 in the semi-final of the EHF EURO 2024, six months ago, and 26:25 at the EHF EURO 2018. In fact, Germany have not beaten Denmark since the main round of the EHF EURO 2016, eight years ago, which eventually saw them take the gold medal in the European competition. So far, Germany have played two Olympics finals apart from the title they won in 1936, losing both, at Los Angeles 1984 and Athens 2004. On the other hand, Denmark have played in the last two finals, winning the one at Rio 2016 and losing against France at Tokyo 2020. What’s clear is that Denmark secured their third consecutive medal in the men’s handball Olympic competition, as well as became the only country to secure two medals at Paris 2024, after the women’s team clinched the bronze on Saturday.

Denmark say farewell to Mikkel Hansen: This will be the 60th match in the history of the Olympics for Denmark, a fantastic milestone for a team which has been better and better in the last years, winning three world titles. On the other hand, Denmark can become the first team since Croatia at Athens 2004 to sweep their opponents and finish the competition with the gold medal and a 100% winning percentage. For that, the Scandinavian side will have to stop a fantastic Germany attack, who scored 222 goals, only six goals less than Denmark. More so, Nikolaj Jacobsen will have to carefully manage his rotation, as Denmark looked to lose some steam in the last matches, winning both the quarter-final against Sweden and the semi-final against Slovenia by a single goal. As this will also be Mikkel Hansen’s last match in handball, with the left back retiring after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the match will have even more pressure on Denmark, who will like to give one of the best players in the world and the all-time best Olympics scorer, with 192 goals, a golden send-off.

Will the lack of experience hurt Germany? Alfred Gislason’s side has not been in a final of a major international competition since 2016, when they secured the gold medal at the EHF EURO. From that team, only four players are still in the current Germany roster. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, line player Jannik Kohlbacher, left wing Rune Dahmke and right back Kai Häfner are the ones that can seal the first gold medal for Germany since the maiden edition when handball was played in the Olympics, at Berlin 1936. Some of the other Germany mainstays, David Späth, Renars Uščins or Juri Knorr will be featuring in their first major final. Therefore, the question is whether the lack of experience in such a setting and the nerves will settle in for these players, which are paramount to Germany’s entire structure. That could well be the question which will make or break their gold medal match against Denmark at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

First medal for Slovenia or fifth for Spain? The experience gap between the two teams fighting in the bronze medal match is even more appalling. Spain have four bronze medals in the Olympics – Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020. For Slovenia, it is their maiden appearance in the bronze medal match at the Olympics, having already made their best-ever performance in history. This is the third meeting between the two teams in 2024 only. First, Spain beat Slovenia, 32:22, in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 in Granollers, Spain, in March. Then, the two sides met once again in the preliminary round at Paris 2024, when Spain took a 25:22 win. Spain are currently on a six-match winning streak against Slovenia, with the last Slovenia win coming in the Olympic Qualification Tournament for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, eight years ago.

Hansen’s record under threat: Ask any player about being the top scorer in a major international competition and they will say that they prefer to score one goal, but the team to win a medal. However, being the top goal scorer at the Olympics is surely a feature for any player in itself and a chance to be reminded in the record books. So far, the battle for the top goal scorer title at Paris 2024 is on a knife’s edge. The leader is Slovenia’s left back Aleks Vlah, with 53 goals, seconded by Mathias Gidsel, who has 51 goals. Third are Simon Pytlick and Renars Uščins, who have both scored 48 goals. Currently, the largest number of goals scored by a single player in a single edition of the Olympics is held by Denmark’s superstar Mikkel Hansen, who had 61 goals at Tokyo 2020. But that could well come under threat were Vlah or Gidsel have one of their trademark outings.