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 program, 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 Program 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 Korea has also had top teams.

The sport is governed worldwide by the International Handball Federation (IHF), which was founded on 11 July 1946 in København and has 207 members as of 2020. The IHF succeeded the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF), which was founded on 4 August 1928. Two handball players have won four Olympic medals: Oh Seong-Ok (KOR) and Andrey Lavrov (URS/EUN/RUS). Twenty Olympians have won three medals, but only Lavrov has won three gold medals.

Presidents of the International Amateur Handball Federation:

• Franz-Paul Lang (GER, 1928-1931)
• Karl von Halt (GER, 1931-1938)
• Richard Herrmann (GER, 1938-1941)
• ? (1941-1946)

Presidents of the International Handball Federation:

• Gösta Björk (SWE, 1946-1950)
• Hans Baumann (SUI, 1950-1971)
• Paul Högberg (SWE, a.i. 1971-1972, 1972-1984)
• Erwin Lanc (AUT, 1984-2000)
• Hassan Moustafa (EGY, 2000-present)