Record Crowd Sees First Croatia Gold

Perfection brought Croatia its first Olympic gold medal before a record crowd for men’s team handball.

Brawny Bozidar Jovic scored on all six of his shots to lead Croatia to a 27-26 victory over Sweden, a game that attracted some 45,000 to the Georgia Dome.

Officials said it was the largest crowd ever for handball at the Games.

A goal by Jovic with 3:08 left refueled a misfiring Croatia offense and helped the Croatian team hold off a late rally by Sweden, which trailed, 19-12, five minutes into the second half.

Spain won the bronze with a 27-25 victory over world champion France as Demetrio Lozano scored five second-half goals, his final one with 10 seconds left.

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Medalists / Team Handball

Men

GOLD: Croatia

SILVER: Sweden

BRONZE: Spain