It’s the bronze age for Aleix Gomez…
The 24-year-old Spanish handball player scored eight goals to help lead Spain to the bronze medal in the men’s handball tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Spain equaled its best finish in men’s handball with its 33-31 win over Egypt.
Eight years after winning the world championship on home soil, Spain finally picked up its first Olympic medal since the 2008 Beijing Games, capping a series of tight games that included one-point wins over Germany and Norway in group play and another one-goal win against Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Denmark beat Spain 27-23 in the semifinals.
Spain led 19-16 at the half but never led by that many again. Egypt got its first tie at 21-21 and never got the lead but kept moving back into a tie, with the latest at 28-28 with six minutes to play.
Egypt finally fell behind by two after that but cut it to one once again with 34 seconds to play. Needing a turnover to tie, Egypt instead conceded a goal to Raul Entrerrios with seven seconds left, icing the game for Spain.
Aleix Gomez led Spain with his eight goals.