The German Handball Association announced the contract extensions with its two national coaches Alfred Gislason and Markus Gaugisch with great joy. Then he named – hidden in the sixth paragraph – the requirement that the Icelander Gislason must fulfill.
“The prerequisite for the term is successful qualification for the Olympic Games. Otherwise the contract ends in 2024,” said the long association announcement succinctly.
While Gaugisch enjoys full confidence after finishing sixth at the Women’s World Cup in December, his colleague is under pressure. “In the coming days we will first subordinate everything to a successful Olympic qualification tournament,” announced Gislason. No wonder: the Icelander is playing for his job. The conditional contract extension before the elimination tournament comes as a surprise.
Feasible groups for Olympic qualification
The men will fight for their participation in the Olympics from March 14th to 17th in Hanover and will meet Algeria, Croatia and Austria. The women will play against Montenegro, Slovenia and Paraguay in Neu-Ulm from April 11th to 14th for one of two tickets for the Summer Games. The German women will be taking part in the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
If successful qualification is achieved, Gislason and Gaugisch should shape the future of German handball. “In recent years, we have learned, also with a view to other nations, that continuity is a key to sporting success. With this long-term decision for Markus Gaugisch and Alfred Gislason, we are creating clarity,” said DHB President Andreas Michelmann.
Gislason’s contract runs until February 28, 2027, Gaugisch’s working paper is dated June 30, 2026. According to the DHB, the executive committee’s decision was unanimous.
Gislason: Team has enormous potential
Gislason took over the position of national coach at the DHB in spring 2020. The Icelander never did better with the German team than with fourth place at the home European Championships this year. Even if the hoped-for medal did not materialize and the pure European Championship results were rather disappointing, the young team underlined the talent that lies dormant within them with strong phases such as against top nation Denmark. “The team has enormous potential to make extreme progress in the next tournaments,” said Gislason.
The Icelander should use all his experience to tease out this potential from the team by the 2027 home World Cup at the latest. “Alfred is rock solid, an experienced coach who can take the pressure off the young players,” HBL president and DHB board member Uwe Schwenker recently said.
Only a few alternatives to Gislason
If the Olympic mission fails, the DHB will face a tricky search. There are currently hardly any comparable alternatives to Gislason, who celebrated countless successes with THW Kiel in the Bundesliga. Names like Florian Kehrmann (TBV Lemgo Lippe), Maik Machulla (most recently Flensburg-Handewitt) are doing the rounds and former national players around Stefan Kretzschmar also brought Magdeburg coach Bennet Wiegert into play in the future debate. But for the 42-year-old, the question of becoming a national coach did not arise, at least “in the short term”.
Gaugisch, on the other hand, can already look forward to further highlights with the DHB team. His contract covers the 2025 World Cup, which Germany is hosting together with the Netherlands. “The Olympic Games and a home World Cup are goals that do not require any external motivation and give us the chance to get closer to the top in the world,” said the 49-year-old. With the DHB team, the trained teacher achieved the best World Cup result since 2007 in December.
