Germany's men's handball team had to settle for silver on the final day of the Paris Olympics on Sunday after losing comprehensively to Denmark in a one-sided final.

The Danes led from the very start in the northern French city of Lille and had established a 9-point cushion by half-time, leading 21-12.

And Germany, who had qualified for the gold-medal match in a dramatic semifinal against hosts France, couldn't reduce the deficit in the second period as Denmark ran out 39-26 winners to secure gold for the first time since 2016.

"It's a nightmare," said Germany's Juri Knorr. "I don't know how this could happen."

"There are no mixed feelings, only disappointment," said captain Johannes Golla. "Obviously Denmark are the best team in the world but we still made it too easy for them. We had no chance."

"We knew that we needed to produce our best game of the tournament," he added. "But we delivered our worst."

Coach Alfred Gislason said: "The lads have played a brilliant tournament, we have to acknowledge that."

Denmark, a handball powerhouse

Denmark have become a handball powerhouse in recent years, following up gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 with silver in Tokyo in 2021.

The Danes have also won the last three men's handball world championships and knocked Germany out of this year's European championships, before losing to France in the final.

For Germany, silver represented a first men's handball medal since 2016 and a first silver medal since 2004.

Earlier, Spain edged Slovenia 23-22 to take bronze.

mf/rmt (SID, dpa)