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HANDBALL

Sweden at the 2012 Olympics: the lowdown

As Sweden prepares for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, The Local's Salomon Rogberg asks some of the country's top sports journalists what fans can expect from its athletes.

Sweden at the 2012 Olympics: the lowdown

The London summer Olympics Games have finally arrived, but many are concerned that there won’t be many medals for Swedes to celebrate this time around.

“Sweden’s chances are slim. It won’t be their best year, but they might get a few medals,” Jacob Hård, a sports commentator with Sveriges Television, told The Local.

And Lasse Persson, a commentator at the national broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) isn’t holding his breath either.

“It’s hard to say what our medal chances are. We have a tendency to be over-confident and think we’ll win a lot of medals, but usually this is not the case. There are always surprises,” Persson told The Local.

The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) however is more upbeat about Sweden’s chances, predicting a haul of at least five medals, beating the success achieved in Beijing in 2008.

“We will do better than we did in Beijing. That’s our motto,” Björn Folin SOC press officer, told The Local.

Visit our gallery for the lowdown on Swedish medal hopefuls by Hård and Persson.

The games are set to stretch over seventeen days, although football fans should take note that the competition starts already today, Wednesday.

Moreover, despite gloomy forecasts it can be comforting to be reminded that Sweden has done pretty well overall since the inaugural Olympic Games in Greece in 1896.

In fact Sweden occupies sixth place in the unofficial rankings, according to the SOC, and by 2004 had won 570 of the 12,200 medals awarded since the first games.

Salomon Rogberg

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HANDBALL

Norway backs out of co-hosting Euro handball champs with Denmark over Covid

Norway has pulled out of co-hosting the women's European handball championship just two weeks before the start in December due to restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, its federation said on Monday.

Norway backs out of co-hosting Euro handball champs with Denmark over Covid
Denmark playing against Norway at last year's handball world cup in Japan. Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

“Based on in-depth assessments by Norwegian health authorities as well as clear demands from Norwegian political authorities, it is now clear that Norway cannot be an organiser of the women's European handball championship,” the federation said.

Denmark is now considering whether to host the event on its own.

Strict restrictions are however currently in place in the North Jutland region, where some of the matches were due to be played, after a mutated version of the virus was found in the country's mink population, infecting 12 people.

The European Handball Federation “very much regrets the decision of the Norwegian government”, it said in a statement, referring to the Norwegian health authorities' refusal to grant exemptions to the strict measures it has imposed.

Under current rules, if a player or team official tests positive for the virus the entire team must quarantine, as well as the teams that it has opposed just prior.

The rules are less strict in Denmark.

“Alternatives are being sought with the Danish Handball Association and additional information will be released on Tuesday at the latest,” the European Handball Federation said.

Norway had been due to host around 60 percent of matches, including the final, in Trondheim.

While Norway has been one of the countries in Europe least affected by the pandemic, it has seen a recent uptick in cases which has led authorities to introduce a series of measures, notably on cultural and sporting events.

READ ALSO: Extra coronavirus restrictions 'halve travel' inside Danish region

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