Handball - Team Denmark

General
The Danish men's team are the reigning Olympic gold medallists, having defeated France in the final of the 2016 Games in Rio. France were the defending Olympic champions in Rio de Janeiro and favourites to retain their title, while Denmark had taken the long route to the tournament via an Olympic qualifier. The Danes led 16-14 at halftime of the gold medal match, and with the help of eight goals from Mikkel Hansen held on for a 28-26 win.

Tokyo 2020 is Denmark's eighth Olympic campaign. They competed at four consecutive tournaments from 1972 to 1984, with a best finish of fourth during that period after losing the bronze medal match to Romania in 1984 in Los Angeles. They did not return to the Olympic Games again until 2008 in Beijing, where they finished seventh. Four years later the team placed sixth at London 2012.

Prior to their 2016 Olympic triumph, Denmark's men had lived in the shadow of the nation's more successful women's team. They had opportunities to take a first world championship title, but lost the 2011 final to France and the 2013 final to Spain. However, since Rio the team have solidified their place at the top of the sport and claimed their first world championship gold medal in 2019, beating Norway 31-22 in the final. The victory locked in Denmark as the first men's team to qualify on merit for Tokyo 2020. Having secured their first world title in 2019, the Danes claimed their second at the 2021 tournament. They went unbeaten through the event held in Egypt, defeating Sweden 26-24 in the final.

At continental level Denmark were gold medal winners at the European championship in 2008 and 2012, and also claimed silver in 2014. The team just missed out on the podium in 2018, losing the bronze medal match 32-29 to France, and in 2020 Denmark were ranked 13th after they did not progress to the main round.