A handball player is much like a paratrooper in the armed forces, Russia’s women’s handball coach Evgeny Trefilov said Friday.
Russia are among the medal contenders in the women’s event, and won silver in the women’s competition in Beijing in 2008.
“In my view handball could be compared the job of a paratrooper; the same intensity, the same physical efforts and massive appeal,” Trefilov said.
He suggested that this year’s Olympic handball competition could be the best yet, benefiting from the sport’s increasing popularity and fewer one-sided matches.
“Handball is getting more popular globally these days. Myself personally I would have loved the idea of the further popularisation of our game,” he said.
“Handball is getting more popular globally these days.”
Player Liudmila Bodnieva said that there was little difference between reigning women’s champions Norway and outsiders Angola.
“For us, Norway and Angola are totally the same at the Olympics,” she said.
The women’s event starts Saturday, with the men’s event getting under way a day later.
Russia’s women play Angola in their first group stage match.
The Russian men, Olympic champions 12 years ago, failed to qualify.
