Slovenia have never made it to the Olympic Games, but under the guidance of coach Dragan Adzic, they are in with a chance now, after consistent performances at the EHF EURO 2022 and the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, where they finished eighth and 11th respectively, some of their best performances in history.

In fact, no Slovenia women’s team has ever competed at the Olympic Games in team sports, which is a huge motivation for this side, as they are clearly on an upper trajectory and aim to become better and better, with a qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With an aging core, this might be the last chance for players like Ana Gros, Barbara Lazovic, Amra Pandzic or Alja Varagic to feature at the Olympic Games and their biggest one yet, as their recent performances have enabled Slovenia to challenge for a spot, in a well-balanced Olympic Qualification Tournament, alongside Germany, Montenegro and Paraguay.

“Our thoughts are already drifting to Germany, but before that we still have a match against Italy waiting for us in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, which will be very welcome. We need to win two points from it, which will also be important for the draw before the European Championship. I am looking forward to this match, because it is still quite different from the training itself,” said right wing Alja Varagic.

Adzic, a well-versed coach, who won the EHF Champions League Women with Buducnost and was a long-serving coach of the Montenegro women’s national team, therefore bringing a lot of experience and a defence-first mentality for this Slovenia side, which has always tried to improve over the past decades.

Slovenia will open the competition with a match against Germany, a tough battle which will likely set the tone for the future for Adzic’s team. The two sides have not met since 2006, and only played against each other twice, at the 2003 IHF Women’s World Championship, where Slovenia took a 29:28 win, while Germany took a 31:30 win at the EHF EURO 2006.

The European side has also won their only match against Paraguay, 28:22, at the 2017 IHF Women’s World Championship, while against Montenegro, they have a single win in seven matches, with Adzic needing to turn the tide against his former side were Slovenia to write history and qualify for Paris 2024.

Key players: Ana Gros (right back), Tjasa Stanko (left back), Amra Pandzic (goalkeeper)

History at the Olympic Games: - 

Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 (in Neu-Ulm, Germany): Germany, Montenegro, Slovenia, Paraguay