Bronze medallist from EHF Finals shines at Beach Handball EURO

For the last 20 seconds of the third-place match in Graz, Dorothee Blaise was surrounded in hugs with her teammates on the bench, waiting for the final whistle. And when they finally realised that they had beaten HSG Blomberg-Lippe 32:27 and secured bronze, the whole team, together with Blaise, ran onto the court and couldn’t hide their emotions of true happiness and pride.

“It was really crazy because I am very young. This was my first year playing in the French first division. It was really crazy for me to win a medal in my first year. I was very happy to experience that, and I thank a lot to my team,” says Blaise.

Reaching the EHF Finals Women 2024 was not the kind of achievement that Dijon expected when they began their EHF European League journey back in October 2024 — in qualification.

“I think it’s force to come like that. We had to play our maximum and see what happens. I think we had no pressure because we said that we will do our best and then we will see. And I think with this mindset, it’s easier to play with any complex, and just play with our heart,” says the 20-year-old as she relives memories from the unforgettable experience.

Now, her focus is entirely on beach handball. One might wonder why, after a long and exhausting indoor season, a player would choose to spend their time playing at another major tournament instead of relaxing, but the love for the sport is what makes Blaise’s decision easy.

“It’s sometimes hard combining it, but I like beach handball so much. I can’t do my summer without beach handball. Sometimes it’s hard for my body and mind, but my club has put me in a good position, as I have a lot of recuperation at the end of the competition,” explains JDA player whose club had to give her permission to compete in Alanya.

“I don't think they enjoy it, but they’re okay with it. They said, like, if it’s good for you, if you feel it’s good for you, go.”

Despite being only 20 years old, this is not her first Beach Handball EURO. The player, who was born in Belfast, France, made her debut in Nazaré two years ago when France placed 13th. At the age of 18, Blaise made a name for herself in the team, by finishing as France’s top scorer with 93 points.  

She repeated her world-class performance at last year’s EHF Beach Handball Championship in Varna, where she was the third-best scorer with 82 points, and led her team to second place behind Hungary. 

Blaise is also shining in Alanya, having contributed 27 goals in the preliminary round and enjoying every single moment of representing France at the European Championship.

“We are very happy because at the start of the tournament we felt like we have very strong group, and we were a bit, not scared but we had a lot of doubts because we didn’t know our level against other teams like Norway or Portugal,” she shares.

France surprised everyone when they beat Portugal in the opening match of the preliminary round on Tuesday, offering plenty of excitement and drama. The match went to shootout, in which Blaise scored to secure a 2:1 victory (23:20, 16:20, 12:10).

The team were equally successful in their other two group B matches, against Norway (21:9, 14:12) and hosts Türkiye (17:10, 22:16), storming through the first stage of the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2025. 

“We are very satisfied with our result, and we really want to go higher and higher.”

Blaise and her teammates are definitely on the right path as they unexpectedly enter the main round from first position in group B with a maximum of four points. France didn’t manage to fully deliver their potential so far in the history of the European championships, but the improvement from Nazaré is visible.

“I think the things that helped us a lot were that we trained a lot with the German team, and they are the best team, so I think that they helped us a lot to improve.”

“Also, I think this year we trained more seriously. Our mindset changed a bit, like we believe that we can do very good things. We are building ourselves and then now we feel that we are ready to do a really, good competition. Yes, I think it’s our mindset that changed a lot.”

Their track record includes only one top-10 result from seven previous EURO participations, when they finished seventh in 2017. The team coached by Joelle Demouge would be thrilled to reach the quarter-finals after eight years.

“I don’t want to be ambitious. I think we could do very good things in the competition. We have a very good start and it can just give us a lot of force.”

Blaise is motivated to make her mark on the sand, and who knows, maybe on Sunday, the final day of the competition, she will have another European medal to add to her collection, and place it alongside the bronze she won at the EHF Finals.

Photos © kolektiff