Les Bronzes go in search of gold

France men’s handball team begin their quest to make Olympic history when they take on Great Britain in the Copper Box tomorrow night.

Les Bronzes, who are also reigning world champions, topped the podium in Beijing and they start their Group A preliminary stage against the host nation hoping to become the first team to win gold medals at consecutive Games.

They are widely regarded as the best team of all time, despite their shock failure at January’s European Championship in Serbia, where they went out at the group stages, and technical director Philippe Bana is happy with his side’s build-up.

“We’ve had excellent preparation. We had a bad European Championship and a lot of questions were asked,” he said.

“We were in trouble so we had a lot of discussions, as a big family, about what the problems were and how they could be solved.

“The Strasbourg preparation tournament was tough but a success for us and a key turning point.

“We are very humble. To be two-time Olympic champions is a dream but we can’t say that will happen for sure.”

While Great Britain, who have only been formed for six years, are not expected to cause France any problems, Bana is concerned about Denmark, who took their European title off them.

“Denmark is a very young and tough team – I would say the best team for the future. Spain is at the top of their game, then you have outsiders like Iceland who won silver in Beijing and I also think Croatia is also a very strong contender for medals,” he added.