Twelve years after their first World Championship title, Norway wrote handball history in Sao Paulo: By beating the brave fighting French team 32:24 (19:13) in the final they are the second team after Denmark (1996/97) to be World Champion, European Champion and Olympic Champion at the same time. For France it was the second consecutive defeat in a World Championship final after 2009, when they lost against Russia. Norway extended their huge title cabinet to eight Gold medals – twice World Champion (1999, 2011), once Olympic Champion (2008) and five times European Champion (1998, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010).
Final ranking of the XX Women’s World Championship in Brazil:
Gold: Norway
Silver: France
Bronze: Spain
4. Denmark
5. Brazil
6. Russia
7. Croatia
8. Angola
9. Sweden
10. Montenegro
11. Korea
12. Iceland
13. Romania
14. Japan
15. Netherlands
16. Ivory Coast
17. Germany
18. Tunisia
19. Kazakhstan
20. Uruguay
21. China
22. Cuba
23. Argentina
24. Australia
PHOTO: IHF
