Glory for Sorhaindo and silver for Jernemyr and Sjostrand (22-21)

Cedric Sorhaindo claimed the handball gold medal in the London Olympic Games this Sunday, which makes him FC Barcelona’s seventh Olympic medalist. His national team, France, beat Johan Sjostrand (13 saves) and Magnus Jernemyr's Sweden by 22-21. France, handball world champions, have sealed their legacy in the sport as they also claimed the gold medal four years ago in the Beijing Games.

Defence, the name of the game

The three Barça Intersport players proved indispensable for their respective national teams in today’s gold medal match. The French and Swedish defences marked the first half, where France was only able to go to the break with a narrow two-goal lead (10-8). Sjostrand and Jernemyr stood tall as they led the Swedish defensive wall against the well-oiled French attacking machine.

The two to three goal French advantage stood throughout the whole second half until the last minute of the game, when Sweden clawed itself back within a single goal of the goal medal (21-20). In the end however, France did well to preserve their one-goal lead to claim victory (22-21). Sorhaindo, who scored a goal, closed out his Olympic Games campaign with a gold medal.