Handball, Women

The women’s field had increased to ten teams, which allowed for more top nations to compete. 1999 World Champions Norway qualified directly, along with France, Austria, Romania and Hungary. Angola, South Korea, Brazil and Denmark were the continental qualifiers, with Australia being added as the host nation.

With four teams per pool advancing, the group stage merely served to weak entrants Australia and Angola. The group winners, Norway and South Korea, both easily won their quarter-final match, while Hungary and Denmark had to put up more of a fight against their opponents, both winning only in overtime. In the first semi-final, defending champions Denmark overwhelmed South Korea, with a 20-11 half time lead. The Koreans shaped up, but could never threaten the Danes, who won it 31-29. In the final, the Hungarians had the best of the game at half-time, 16-14. With just 15 minutes to play, they were leading by 6 goals, 23-17. Nine of these goals had been scored by Bojana Radulovics, who had played for Yugoslavia through 1999. The Danes then scored six times straight, to level the match at 23-23. From then on, it was the match of Camilla Andersen, who scored 4 times to make it 28-26, and Anette Møberg, who hit the net three times after that, determining the final score at 31-27. Norway won the fight for bronze, breaking the medal streak of South Korea, which had been on the podium every Olympics since 1984.