Brazil and Sweden, the only two nations fielding out LGBTQ athletes in women’s handball at the Paris Olympic Games, are both moving on to the knockout stage.
While both will continue their Olympic journey after group play wrapped up Saturday, the fashion in which each team claimed their spot in the quarterfinals were vastly different.
Brazil, the gayest team in the competition with five out LGBTQ players (team captain Bruna de Paula, Gabriela Moreschi, Patricia Matieli, Adriana Cardoso de Castro and reserve Babi Arenhart), secured their spot in a must-win match against Angola.
The sole South American nation in this year’s tournament entered the day on a three-game losing streak after opening Olympic play with a win over Spain, sitting one point back of Angola for the final Group B qualification spot.
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The drama of the moment was sucked out of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles early as Brazil executed a complete dismantling of the 15-time African champions via a sublime performance by goalkeeper Moreschi.
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The only non-European nation to reach the quarterfinals in Paris, Brazil’s performance is already better than their turn in Tokyo three years ago. The team failed to advance out of their group during the 2020 Olympic Games after excelling on home turf at the Rio Games in 2016.
Brazil’s squad feels the most complete that it has since Rio, anchored by the scoring prowess of de Paula and Gabriela Bitolo and Matieli’s keen eye for passing.
But the story of the tournament so far for Brazil is the changing of the guard in goal. Moreschi’s infectious passion exhibited in her celebrations after making saves has endeared her to fans, and she has had plenty of chances for those post-save celebrations thanks to her play.
But there isn’t a bigger cheerleader for Moreschi than the woman she replaced, longtime goalkeeper Babi Arenhart. In her third and likely last Olympic Games, Arenhart made the team as a reserve and remains a leader for them despite not suiting up for a single game. The Paris Games represent soaking in the Olympic experience one more time for the woman who has defended the goal for almost every major achievement for the Brazilian national team since 2009.
On the opposite end, Sweden remained near the top of Group A for most of the tournament. Out LGBTQ winger Nathalie Hagman led her team in scoring in three of its five games en route to a 4-1 record and three-way tie for first with Norway and Denmark.
Hagman, herself a three-time Olympian, has regained the scoring touch she showed in her Olympic debut in Rio eight years ago. She led Sweden in goals during that tournament and ranked fourth in top scorers overall. In 2024, she again is Sweden’s leading scorer and is poised for a top-five finish in scoring overall.
More importantly, Sweden as a whole has played like the potential medalist that they pegged to be prior to the competition. After a fourth-place finish in Tokyo amid a decline in performance from Hagman, the Swedish winger’s return to form is fueling the team’s medal hopes as the knockout stage gets underway in Lille.
There is a potential for Brazil and Sweden to meet in the medal round, but they’ll have to top some stiff competition first. Brazil will take on 2016 and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Norway in the quarterfinals while Sweden faces Hungary when the tournament resumes on August 6.
