Handball at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Most handball matches were held in the Copper Box, with the semi-finals and finals played in the larger Basketball Arena. Both venues were in the Olympic Park. The most notable change in the play schedule was the lack of classification matches, which had already been reduced in Beijing 2008. Placements from rank five and down were decided on the basis of points achieved in the preliminary round.

For the first time in Olympic handball, both reigning champions defended their title. While not so rare in the women’s competition (it had happened four times before), this was the first time a male team managed to achieve this.