Handball, Men

It is not exactly clear why handball was discontinued from the Olympic program after the Second World War. Perhaps this was due to the German origin of the sport, yet the international federation had been re-established after the war as the International Handball Federation, and it was recognized by the IOC.

In 1952, field handball was again played at the Olympics, but this time as a demonstration event. It had been picked by the Finnish organizers as a sport not played in the country (the other demonstration event was in pesapällo, Finnish baseball). They had originally wanted to demonstrate rugby, but this turned out to be impossible. For the handball match, the finalists of the 1948 world championships, Sweden and Denmark, were invited. Sweden had also finished second at the 1952 championships, which were held briefly before the Olympics. In rainy conditions, in front of a poorly filled Olympic Stadium, the Swedes defeated the Danes, 19-11. The demonstration did not help to bring back handball as an Olympic sport soon; it would only return 20 years later at the Munich Olympics.