Under-the-radar sports you should check out during the Tokyo Games

Every four years, handball comes on and it’s awesome and you can get super obsessed with it for two weeks, and then, at least in America… it pretty much disappears, because we’re not good at it and don’t even get a team into the Olympics.

When last we saw men’s handball, Mikkel Hansen of gold medalist Denmark was being named MVP of the Olympics. Since then, Hansen has added a third IIHF World Player of the Year award, and MVP honors at the past two world championships (they’re held every two years), both won by Denmark.

France, out of the medals at this year’s world championships for the first time since 2013, will look to rebound from that disappointment by returning to a fourth straight gold medal game at the Olympics.

On the women’s side, France also was the silver medalist at the last Olympics, falling to Russia in the final. This year’s world championships aren’t until December, so reigning world champ is The Netherlands — the team that was fourth in the last Olympics with a bronze medal game defeat to Norway.

It’s the Norway-Russia semifinal that was the match of the 2016 Games, with the Russians stunning the two-time defending Olympic champs in overtime. It’s Norway and Russia who are favored for the gold in Tokyo, as Norway returns most of its core out for redemption, plus 22-year-old Henny Reistad, who was MVP of the EHF Champions League Final 4, leading Vipers Kristiansand to the title alongside the top scorer of the last Olympics, Nora Mørk.