The 24 teams taking part at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the men’s and women’s competitions are on the final straight, with only 10 days before the throw off, due to take place in the South Paris Arena 6 in the French capital.

All of them are currently undergoing their second training camps prior to Paris 2024, with several friendly matches taking place throughout the world in the last days, where the coaches tested different systems and finetuned several tactical aspects before the start of the competition.

Germany, which are returning for the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008, conceded a 31:36 loss against Brazil, on their home court in Dortmund, which proved that the Pan American champions are no pushovers and that Markus Gaugisch’s side still had some work to do.

"It was obvious that it was our first game in a long time. Especially in defense, which is usually our strength, things didn't really work today. We have to find the feeling for each other again. We definitely have to look at that,"  said Germany’s captain Emily Bölk.

Spain had three friendly matches in the last week, starting off with a 22:21 win over Angola and then a doubleheader against the Republic of Korea, where they also clinched two clear wins, 29:23 and 24:19, with some stellar defensive work, exactly the kind of what coach Ambros Martin expected for his side.

Hosts France also faced off against Angola and had a stellar performance, revving up their engines before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 11 saves from goalkeeper Hatadou Sako and seven goals from right wing Alicia Toublanc lifted France to a clear 33:20 win.

“We played a good match. The start was difficult with Angola players who are strong fast. The change of defense hurt them a lot. We wanted to dominate in the full-court game,” said France’s coach, Olivier Krumbholz.

Hungary and Slovenia faced off twice, with both the men’s and women’s sides entering the court in Győr and both Hungary sides emerged victorious after close-call battles.

The women’s side took a healthy lead early, 10:4, which morphed into a 17:11 lead at the break, only for Slovenia to come back and deliver a strong outing in the second part, as Hungary eventually clinched a 28:27 win. Hungary’s men team went down at the break, 12:14, but secured a 29:25 win in the end.

“This was our second match after a long break, today the team play did not work so well in the second part of the match, but I am confident that we will get better and better during the preparation, as we are working on it,” said the coach of the Hungary women’s national team, Vladimir Golovin.

In front of over 10.000 spectators in the Westfallenhalle in Dortmund, Germany delivered a pitch perfect performance, to clinch a 35:30 win over reigning Olympic champions and hosts France.

Tim Hornke and Franz Semper were Germany’s top scorers, with five goals each, as Alfred Gislason gave meaningful minutes to all of the players at his disposal.