Norway’s Olympic handball match against Sweden was a thrilling close one that left Norway’s goalkeeper as the national heroine on Tuesday. Meanwhile, though, the Norwegian swimmer meant to grab some glory of her own was disappointed, and a top hurdler dropped out of the games.
Kari Aalvik Grimsbø saved Norway from defeat in the Olympic women’s handball match Monday night. Norway won 24-21, but only because Grimsbø repeatedly blocked Sweden’s shots and mounted an impressive wall of defense. Handball is popular in Norway, and the country’s so-called “handball girls” also have been winning the most TV viewers back home.
On Wednesday, Norway will face South Korea in handball, followed by an important match against Denmark on Friday and against Spain on Sunday.
Meanwhile, medal candidate Ingvild Snildal was in tears after first failing Saturday to make the finals in her best event, the 100-meter butterfly, and then doing poorly on Tuesday in the 200-meter butterfly. “The Olympics haven’t been at all what I’d thought they be,” Snilal told reporters on Tuesday. Now she just wants “to go home and train less.”
Hurdler Christina Vukicevic, who’s been considered a medal candidate for years, decided to withdraw from Olympic competition in the 100-meter race. “I’ve sunk into a training valley that I can’t get out of,” Vukicevic stated in a press release issued by Norway’s Olympic committee. “Every single day I’ve tried hard and been positive, but I don’t get training into my system.” Last year she suffered an injury that caused her to also miss both the Norwegian and World Championships.
Views and News staff
