Jacobsen Chasing Bengt Johansson’s Mark, Onesta Still the Benchmark
Nikolaj Jacobsen is chasing his sixth gold medal at major tournaments — which would allow him to draw level with the legendary Bengt Johansson, Sweden’s head coach from the famous golden era of the 1990s. For now, the iconic Frenchman Claude Onesta still looks untouchable with eight gold medals, but with the way Denmark are playing, nothing seems impossible.
Among the 24 national teams taking part in EHF EURO 2026 — which starts today in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway — five are led by coaches who already know how to win gold on the biggest stage.
Jacobsen is still missing European gold. That title has been won by Guillaume Gille with France, Dagur Sigurdsson with Germany at the famous Krakow 2016 championship, while Jordi Ribera did it twice with Spain in 2018 and 2020.
The fifth coach with a gold medal at major tournaments is Montenegro head coach Didier Dinart. He achieved that when Onesta handed him the reins for the 2017 World Championship in Bercy.
Nikolaj Jacobsen (Denmark) — 5 gold medals
World Championship: 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025 (4)
Olympic Games: Paris 2024 (1)
Guillaume Gille (France) — 2 gold medals
EHF EURO: 2024 (1)
Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 (played in 2021) (1)
Jordi Ribera (Spain) — 2 gold medals
EHF EURO: 2018, 2020 (2)
Didier Dinart (Montenegro) — 1 gold medal
World Championship: 2017 (1)
Dagur Sigurdsson (Croatia) — 1 gold medal
EHF EURO: 2016 (1, with Germany)
