Handball

Handball is a team sport that combines aspects of basketball, football (soccer), and water polo. It is played on a basketball-sized court by teams of seven players, who attempt to score goals by throwing a ball slightly smaller than a volleyball into a goal on the ground, which is about the size of a lacrosse goal.

The game was invented in Germany, in the early 20th century, and became very popular in Europe. At the 1936 Olympics, the Germans added it to the programme, but it was contested outdoors, on a large field, with 11 men to a side, often termed field handball. It was not again on the Olympic Programme until 1972, when it was added to the Olympics at München. This time, the sport was contested as described above, with seven men to a side and indoors. In 1976, women’s handball became an Olympic sport.

Handball is immensely popular in Europe, surpassed by only football (soccer), cycling, athletics (track & field), and, more recently, basketball and volleyball. The same popularity has not extended to other areas of the world, notably the United States. Thus, the sport has been dominated by the Europeans, although South Korea has also had top teams. At the Olympics, Denmark leads the gold medal count, with five golds and seven medals. They are followed by France (eight medals, four golds), the Soviet Union (six medals, four golds), and Norway (eight medals, three golds).

In the men’s competition, four handball players have won four Olympic medals: Andrey Lavrov (representing the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and Russia), and Frenchmen Michaël Guigou, Nikola Karabatic and Luc Abalo, all with three gold medals.

The women’s medal table is led by Katrine Lunde-Haraldsen, of Norway, with five medals and three golds. She is followed by her compatriots Marit Malm Frafjord and Camilla Herrem, both with four medals and two golds, while Korea’s Oh Seong-Ok has won four Olympic medals and one gold.

The sport is governed worldwide by the International Handball Federation (IHF), which was founded on 11 July 1946, in København, and had 210 affiliated national federations as of 2024. The IHF succeeded the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF), which had been founded on 4 August 1928.