Record Crowd Sees First Croatia Gold
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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
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