European teams claimed the last six places in the women’s handball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, when they triumphed in the three qualifying tournaments held over the weekend.

France delighted the home fans by defeating Japan in a winner-takes-all finale to the tournament in Metz, joining 2015 world championship runners-up Netherlands in qualifying for Rio, while the Japanese shared Tunisia’s disappointment in missing out.

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Rio here we come!!!!! #olympics2016 #oneteamonedream #wedidit

A photo posted by Lois Abbingh (@loisabbingh1) on Mar 19, 2016 at 12:03pm PDT

Dutch star Lois Abbingh celebrates Olympic qualification on Instagram

Denmark – the Olympic champions in 1996, 2000 and 2004 – also suffered disappointment, on home turf in Aarhus, where 2015 world championship bronze medallists Romania and London 2012 silver medallists Montenegro earned the Olympic slots, leaving the hosts and Uruguay empty-handed.

Meanwhile, Russia and Sweden emerged victorious from the tournament in the Russian city of Astrakhan, with Poland and Mexico having their Olympic dreams ended.

JAAAAAAApic.twitter.com/G5VllsDyYh

— Bella Gulldén (@Bellagullden) 19 marzo 2016

Sweden's Bella Gulldén celebrated her team's qualification for Rio on Twitter

Russia won three out of three to win the qualifying tournament they hosted (Photo: IHF/Facebook)

The six teams join 2013 world champions Brazil and double Olympic and reigning world champions Norway, along with Argentina, Angola, Republic of Korea and London 2012 bronze medallists Spain in the line-up for the Olympic tournament, which will take place between 6 and 21 August at the Future Arena in Barra Olympic Park.

Men to follow suit

The final six places in the men’s tournament will be decided at the Olympic qualifiers between 8 and 10 April, when the top two from the following three groups will earn berths in Brazil:

Group 1 (Gdansk, Poland): Poland, Macedonia, Chile, Tunisia

Group 2 (Malmo, Sweden): Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Iran,

Group 3 (Herning, Denmark): Denmark, Croatia, Norway, Bahrain

The victorious half-dozen will join Brazil, France, Argentina, Qatar, Germany and Egypt in the battle for men’s handball medals in Rio.

The draw for the Olympic handball tournaments will take place at the Future Arena on 29 April, the first day of the sport’s Rio 2016 test event.

The Future Arena will be taken down and its parts used to build four public schools after the Games (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

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Follow the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
 

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.