For the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, a team in a game sport became a medalist at the Olympic Games. In the bronze medal match at the Olympics in Athens, the Ukrainian women's national team defeated the reigning world champions – the French team – with a score of 21:18. Moreover, in this match the Ukrainian women had to fight not so much against their opponents as against the referees from Slovenia, who openly
tried to "bury" the Ukrainian national team.

However, the Ukrainian handball players proved stronger than the referees' bias. In the first half alone, the Ukrainian women were suspended 5 times, while the French team played short-handed only once. At the same time, penalties were awarded against the Ukrainian national team's goal three times. Gross rule violations by the French women were mostly punished only with a 9-meter zone play, while "Ukrainian" ones led to suspensions or seven-meter throws. In addition, in the second half of the match the referees three times disallowed goals into the French women's goal

Both teams spent the start of the game in a prolonged reconnaissance, which continued with the score 0:0 right up until the sixth minute of the game. The first to "unlock" their opponents' goal were the Ukrainian women after an accurate shot by Nataliia Liapina from a penalty. Thereafter, only the handball players of the Ukrainian national team went ahead, although both teams went ball for ball. The first 30 minutes ended in a 10:10 draw. In the middle of the second half, mistakes in defense and inaccurate passes led to France taking the lead for the first time at 13:14. However, this advantage did not last long. The handball players in the "blue-and-yellow" shirts first equalized the score, and 5 minutes before the end of the match even went ahead.

Incidentally, in the 20th minute of the second half, the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Leonid Ratner, received a red card for a second warning. The Ukrainian national team's mentor reacted very impulsively to the referees' disputed decisions, for which he was "asked" to watch the match from the stands. But the girls did not upset their mentor and achieved victory even short-handed. Accurate shots in the final minutes of the game by Nataliia Liapina and Maryna Verheliuk extended Ukraine's lead to three goals, and a minute later the final whistle sounded. The Ukrainian national team is the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Athens!

Afterwards, the Ukrainian women cried, a satisfied Ratner ran around and kissed all the players of the Ukrainian national team (we envy him in a good way), and the president of the Handball Federation of Ukraine, Vitalii Reva, danced the winners' dance together with the girls.

It is also worth noting the significant contribution to the overall victory of the Ukrainian goalkeeper Nataliia Borysenko, who performed flawlessly in this match. Although the entire team deserved this victory without exception, including the injured Oksana Raikhel, the national team veteran Oleha Tsyhitsa and others. The top scorer in the Ukrainian team was Maryna Verheliuk, who threw 6 goals, while for the French team the best sniper was Leila Lejeune – 7 accurate shots.

Third-place match.

France – UKRAINE – 18:21
France: Lejeune – 7 goals.
UKRAINE: Verheliuk - 6, Liapina 5, Siukalo – 4, Tsyhitsa, Radchenko, Shevchenko, Markushevska, Yatsenko, Burmistrova – 1.

The roster of the Ukrainian national team that won "bronze" in Athens: Larysa Zaspa, Nataliia Borysenko, Maryna Verheliuk, Olena Yatsenko, Halyna Markushavska, Hanna Siukalo, Olena Tsyhitsa, Oksana Raikhel, Anastasiia Borodina, Nataliia Liapina, Liudmyla Shevchenko, Olena Radchenko, Tetiana Shynkarenko, Hanna Burmistrova, Iryha Honcharova.