Handball at the Summer Olympics facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Handball at the Summer Olympics |
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| Governing body | IHF |
| Events | 2 (men: 1; women: 1) |
| Games | |
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Handball at the Summer Olympics refers to two different sports. Field handball was introduced for men at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but dropped after that. At the 1952 Olympics, field handball was a demonstration sport. (Indoor) handball was introduced for men at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Women's handball competition was introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Contents
Men's tournaments
Summary
| Year | Host | Gold medal match | Bronze medal match | Teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalists | Score | Silver medalists | Bronze medalists | Score | 4th-place finishers | ||||||
| 1936 Details |
 Berlin |
 Germany |
Round robin |  Austria |
 Switzerland |
Round robin |  Hungary |
6 | |||
| 1972 Details |
 Munich |
 Yugoslavia |
21–16 |  Czechoslovakia |
 Romania |
19–16 |  East Germany |
16 | |||
| 1976 Details |
 Montreal |
 Soviet Union |
19–15 | Romania |
 Poland |
21–18 |  West Germany |
12 | |||
| 1980 Details |
 Moscow |
East Germany |
23–22 (ET) | Soviet Union |
Romania |
20–18 |  Hungary |
12 | |||
| 1984 Details |
 Los Angeles |
Yugoslavia |
18–17 | West Germany |
Romania |
23–19 |  Denmark |
12 | |||
| 1988 Details |
 Seoul |
Soviet Union |
32–25 |  South Korea |
Yugoslavia |
27–23 | Hungary |
12 | |||
| 1992 Details |
 Barcelona |
 Unified Team |
22–20 |  Sweden |
 France |
24–20 |  Iceland |
12 | |||
| 1996 Details |
Atlanta |
 Croatia |
27–26 | Sweden |
 Spain |
27–25 | France |
12 | |||
| 2000 Details |
 Sydney |
 Russia |
28–26 | Sweden |
Spain |
26–22 |  Yugoslavia |
12 | |||
| 2004 Details |
 Athens |
Croatia |
26–24 | Germany |
Russia |
28–26 | Hungary |
12 | |||
| 2008 Details |
 Beijing |
France |
28–23 | Iceland |
Spain |
35–29 | Croatia |
12 | |||
| 2012 Details |
 London |
France |
22–21 | Sweden |
Croatia |
33–26 | Hungary |
12 | |||
| 2016 Details |
 Rio de Janeiro |
Denmark |
28–26 | France |
Germany |
31–25 |  Poland |
12 | |||
| 2020 Details |
 Tokyo |
France |
25–23 | Denmark |
Spain |
33–31 |  Egypt |
12 | |||
| 2024 Details |
 Paris |
12 | |||||||||
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France (FRA) |
3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 |  Soviet Union (URS) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 |  Croatia (CRO) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
 Yugoslavia (YUG) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 5 |  Germany (GER) |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 |  Denmark (DEN) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 |  Russia (RUS) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 |  East Germany (GDR) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Unified Team (EUN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 |  Sweden (SWE) |
0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 |  Romania (ROU) |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 12 |  Austria (AUT) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Iceland (ISL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 South Korea (KOR) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 |  Spain (ESP) |
0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 17 |  Poland (POL) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Switzerland (SUI) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (18 entries) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 | |
Participating nations
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- • – Did not enter / Did not qualify
- – Hosts
- = – More than one team tied for that rank
- Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
| Nation | 1936 |
1972 |
1976 |
1980 |
1984 |
 1988 |
1992 |
1996 |
2000 |
2004 |
2008 |
2012 |
2016 |
2020 |
2024 |
2028 |
2032 |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ALG |
• | • | • | 10th | 12th | 10th | • | 10th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 4 | ||
 ARG |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | 10th | 12th | Q | 4 | ||
 AUS |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | • | • | • | Q | 2 | |
| AUT |
2nd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 BHR |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 8th | • | 1 | ||
| BRA |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | 11th | • | 10th | 11th | • | 7th | 10th | • | 6 | ||
 CAN |
• | • | 11th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 CHN |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
| CRO |
Part of  YUG |
• | 1st | • | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 5th | • | Q | 6 | |||||||
 CUB |
• | • | • | 11th | • | • | • | • | 11th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 | ||
| DEN |
• | 13th | 8th | 9th | 4th | • | • | • | • | • | 7th | 6th | 1st | 2nd | Q | 9 | ||
 EGY |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 11th | 6th | 7th | 12th | 10th | • | 9th | 4th | Q | 8 | ||
| FRA |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 3rd | 4th | 6th | 5th | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | Q | 9 | ||
| GER |
1st | See GDR and FRG |
10th | 7th | 5th | 2nd | 9th | • | 3rd | 6th | Q | 9 | ||||||
 GBR |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 GRE |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6th | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 HUN |
4th | 8th | 6th | 4th | • | 4th | 7th | • | • | 4th | • | 4th | • | • | Q | 9 | ||
| ISL |
• | 12th | • | • | 6th | 8th | 4th | • | • | 9th | 2nd | 5th | • | • | • | 7 | ||
 JPN |
• | 11th | 9th | • | 10th | 11th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 11th | Q | 6 | ||
 KUW |
• | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 | ||
 NOR |
• | 9th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7th | Q | 3 | ||
| POL |
• | 10th | 3rd | 7th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 5th | • | 4th | • | • | 5 | ||
 POR |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 9th | • | 1 | ||
 QAT |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 8th | • | • | 1 | ||
| ROU |
5th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | • | 8th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6 | ||
| RUS |
See URS |
5th | 1st | 3rd | 6th | • | • | • | • | 4 | ||||||||
 SRB |
See YUG |
See  SCG |
• | 9th | • | • | • | 1 | ||||||||||
 SVN |
Part of YUG |
• | • | 8th | 11th | • | • | 6th | • | Q | 4 | |||||||
| KOR |
• | • | • | • | 11th | 2nd | 6th | • | 9th | 8th | 8th | 11th | • | • | • | 7 | ||
| ESP |
• | 15th | • | 5th | 8th | 9th | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | 7th | 3rd | 7th | • | 3rd | Q | 12 | ||
| SWE |
• | 7th | • | • | 5th | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | • | • | 2nd | 11th | 5th | Q | 10 | ||
 SUI |
3rd | • | • | 8th | 7th | • | • | 8th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 4 | ||
 TUN |
• | 16th | WD | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | • | • | 8th | 12th | • | • | 5 | ||
 USA |
6th | 14th | 10th | • | 9th | 12th | • | 9th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | Q | 7 | |
| Discontinued nations | ||||||||||||||||||
 TCH |
• | 2nd | 7th | • | • | 6th | 9th | See CZE |
4 | |||||||||
| GDR |
 G |
4th | • | 1st | • | 7th | See GER |
3 | ||||||||||
| SCG |
See YUG |
• | • | 4th | • | See SRB |
1 | |||||||||||
| URS |
• | 5th | 1st | 2nd | • | 1st | 1st | See RUS |
5 | |||||||||
| West Germany |
G |
6th | 4th | • | 2nd | • | See GER |
3 | ||||||||||
| YUG |
• | 1st | 5th | 6th | 1st | 3rd | See SCG |
See SRB |
5 | |||||||||
| Total | 6 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |
Women's tournaments
Summary
| Year | Host | Gold medal match | Bronze medal match | Teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalists | Score | Silver medalists | Bronze medalists | Score | 4th-place finishers | ||||||
| 1976 Details |
Montreal |
Soviet Union |
Round robin | East Germany |
Hungary |
Round robin | Romania |
6 | |||
| 1980 Details |
Moscow |
Soviet Union |
Round robin | Yugoslavia |
East Germany |
Round robin | Hungary |
6 | |||
| 1984 Details |
Los Angeles |
Yugoslavia |
Round robin | South Korea |
 China |
Round robin | West Germany |
6 | |||
| 1988 Details |
Seoul |
South Korea |
Round robin |  Norway |
Soviet Union |
Round robin | Yugoslavia |
8 | |||
| 1992 Details |
Barcelona |
South Korea |
28–21 | Norway |
Unified Team |
24–20 | Germany |
8 | |||
| 1996 Details |
Atlanta |
Denmark |
37–33 (ET) | South Korea |
Hungary |
20–18 | Norway |
8 | |||
| 2000 Details |
Sydney |
Denmark |
31–27 | Hungary |
Norway |
22–21 |  South Korea |
10 | |||
| 2004 Details |
Athens |
Denmark |
34–34 (ET, pen: 4–2) | South Korea |
 Ukraine |
21–18 | France |
10 | |||
| 2008 Details |
Beijing |
Norway |
34–27 | Russia |
South Korea |
33–28 | Hungary |
12 | |||
| 2012 Details |
London |
Norway |
26–23 |  Montenegro |
Spain |
31–29 |  South Korea |
12 | |||
| 2016 Details |
Rio de Janeiro |
Russia |
22–19 | France |
Norway |
36–26 |  Netherlands |
12 | |||
| 2020 Details |
Tokyo |
France |
30–25 |  ROC |
Norway |
36–19 | Sweden |
12 | |||
| 2024 Details |
Paris |
12 | |||||||||
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark (DEN) |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | South Korea (KOR) |
2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Norway (NOR) |
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Soviet Union (URS) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | France (FRA) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Russia (RUS) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Yugoslavia (YUG) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | Hungary (HUN) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | East Germany (GDR) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Montenegro (MNE) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Russia (RUS) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 | China (CHN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain (ESP) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Ukraine (UKR) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Unified Team (EUN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (15 entries) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |
Participating nations
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- • – Did not enter / Did not qualify
- – Hosts
- = – More than one team tied for that rank
- Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
| Nation | 1976 |
1980 |
1984 |
1988 |
1992 |
1996 |
2000 |
2004 |
2008 |
2012 |
2016 |
2020 |
2024 |
2028 |
2032 |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Angola |
• | • | • | • | • | 7th | 9th | 9th | 12th | 10th | 8th | 10th | Q | 8 | ||
 Argentina |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | 1 | ||
| Australia |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | • | • | • | • | • | • | Q | 2 | |
 Austria |
• | • | 6th | • | 5th | • | 5th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3 | ||
| Brazil |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 8th | 7th | 9th | 6th | 5th | 11th | Q | 7 | ||
| Canada |
6th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
| China |
• | • | 3rd | 6th | • | 5th | • | 8th | 6th | • | • | • | • | 5 | ||
 Congo |
• | 6th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 Croatia |
Part of  Yugoslavia |
• | • | • | • | • | 7th | • | • | • | 1 | |||||
 Denmark |
• | • | • | • | • | 1st | 1st | 1st | • | 9th | • | • | Q | 5 | ||
| France |
• | • | • | • | • | • | 6th | 4th | 5th | 5th | 2nd | 1st | Q | 7 | ||
| Germany |
See  GDR and FRG |
4th | 6th | • | • | 11th | • | • | • | Q | 4 | |||||
| Great Britain |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | • | • | 1 | ||
| Greece |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 Hungary |
3rd | 4th | • | • | • | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | 4th | • | • | 7th | Q | 8 | ||
 Ivory Coast |
• | • | • | 8th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
| Japan |
5th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12th | • | 2 | ||
 Kazakhstan |
Part of Soviet Union |
• | • | • | 10th | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||||||
 Montenegro |
Part of Yugoslavia |
Part of  Serbia and Montenegro |
• | 2nd | 11th | 6th | • | 3 | ||||||||
 Netherlands |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 4th | 5th | Q | 3 | ||
 Nigeria |
• | • | • | • | 8th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||
 Norway |
• | • | • | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | • | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | Q | 9 | ||
 Romania |
4th | • | • | • | • | • | 7th | • | 7th | • | 9th | • | • | 4 | ||
 Russia |
See Soviet Union |
• | • | • | 2nd | 8th | 1st | 2nd | • | 4 | ||||||
 Slovenia |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | Q | 1 | ||
| South Korea |
• | • | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 10th | 8th | Q | 11 | ||
| Spain |
• | • | • | • | 7th | • | • | 6th | • | 3rd | 6th | 9th | Q | 6 | ||
 Sweden |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 8th | 11th | 7th | 4th | Q | 5 | ||
 Ukraine |
Part of Soviet Union |
• | • | 3rd | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||||||
| United States |
• | • | 5th | 7th | 6th | 8th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | Q | 5 | |
| Discontinued nations | ||||||||||||||||
 Czechoslovakia |
• | 5th | • | 5th | • | See Czech Republic |
2 | |||||||||
| East Germany |
2nd | 3rd | • | • | See Germany |
2 | ||||||||||
| Soviet Union |
1st | 1st | • | 3rd | 3rd | See Russia |
4 | |||||||||
| West Germany |
• | • | 4th | • | See Germany |
1 | ||||||||||
| Yugoslavia |
• | 2nd | 1st | 4th | See Serbia and Montenegro |
See  Serbia |
3 | |||||||||
| Total | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |
Combined medal table
The table below include teams under the name they had at the time. It should be mentioned, though, that URS and EUN is the same team like RUS and ROC is the same.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France (FRA) |
4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Soviet Union (URS) |
4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Denmark (DEN) |
4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Yugoslavia (YUG) |
3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | South Korea (KOR) |
2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Norway (NOR) |
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | Russia (RUS) |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Croatia (CRO) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | East Germany (GDR) |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Germany (GER) |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 11 | Unified Team (EUN) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Sweden (SWE) |
0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | Romania (ROU) |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 14 | Hungary (HUN) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 15 | Austria (AUT) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Iceland (ISL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Montenegro (MNE) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Russia (RUS) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| West Germany (FRG) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | Spain (ESP) |
0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 22 | China (CHN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Poland (POL) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Switzerland (SUI) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ukraine (UKR) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (25 entries) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 78 | |
See also
In Spanish: Balonmano en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños
- List of Olympic venues in handball
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