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).

STATISTICS

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