Handball at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Dates 20 September – 1 October 1988
Medal Events 2

With the boycotts of 1980 and 1984 in the past, all the best nations could again make an appearance at the Olympics. A major surprise was the host nation, South Korea. Already a medallist at the devalued 1984 women’s tournament, they claimed gold, while taking silver in the men’s game.

The women’s field had been expanded from six to eight teams, meaning the single round-robin system was discontinued in favor of round-robin pools, with the four best teams advancing to a final pool.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Handball, Men Olympic 20 September – 1 October 1988 170 12
Handball, Women Olympic 21 – 29 September 1988 111 8
281 (170/111) 15 (12/8)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Handball, Men Soviet UnionURS Republic of KoreaKOR YugoslaviaYUG
Handball, Women Republic of KoreaKOR NorwayNOR Soviet UnionURS

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Republic of Korea KOR 1 1 0 2
Soviet Union URS 1 0 1 2
Norway NOR 0 1 0 1
Yugoslavia YUG 0 0 1 1