Handball

Facts

Discipline of Handball
Participants 2940
NOCs 50
Competitions held 26 (Venues)
Distinct events 4

Description

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. At the Olympics, France, the Soviet Union and Denmark have all won four gold medals, with France leading with a total of seven medals.

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 Katrine Lunde-Haraldsen and Marit Malm Frafjord, of Norway, each with four medals and two golds, while Korea’s Oh Seong-Ok has won four 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 has 209 members as of 2022. The IHF succeeded the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF), which was founded on 4 August 1928.

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)

All-time medal table

Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
France FRA 4 2 1 7
Soviet Union URS 4 1 1 6
Denmark DEN 4 1 0 5
Yugoslavia YUG 3 1 1 5
Republic of Korea KOR 2 4 1 7
Norway NOR 2 2 3 7
Russian Federation RUS 2 1 1 4
Croatia CRO 2 0 1 3
East Germany GDR 1 1 1 3
Germany GER 1 1 1 3
Unified Team EUN 1 0 1 2
Sweden SWE 0 4 0 4
Romania ROU 0 1 3 4
Hungary HUN 0 1 2 3
Austria AUT 0 1 0 1
Czechoslovakia TCH 0 1 0 1
Iceland ISL 0 1 0 1
Montenegro MNE 0 1 0 1
ROC ROC 0 1 0 1
West Germany FRG 0 1 0 1
Spain ESP 0 0 5 5
People's Republic of China CHN 0 0 1 1
Poland POL 0 0 1 1
Switzerland SUI 0 0 1 1
Ukraine UKR 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Egypt EGY 1 1 0 2
Republic of Korea KOR 1 1 0 2
Denmark DEN 1 0 0 1
Slovenia SLO 1 0 0 1
Russian Federation RUS 0 2 0 2
Brazil BRA 0 0 1 1
France FRA 0 0 1 1
Norway NOR 0 0 1 1
Sweden SWE 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Michaël Guigou FRA 3 1 0 4
Nikola Karabatic FRA 3 1 0 4
Luc Abalo FRA 3 1 0 4
Andrey Lavrov RUS
URS
EUN
3 0 1 4
Daniel Narcisse FRA 2 1 0 3
Thierry Omeyer FRA 2 1 0 3
Katrine Lunde-Haraldsen NOR 2 0 2 4
Marit Malm Frafjord NOR 2 0 2 4
Venio Losert CRO 2 0 1 3
Vasily Kudinov RUS
EUN
2 0 1 3
Larisa Karlova URS
UKR
2 0 1 3
Zinaida Turchina URS
UKR
2 0 1 3
Aleksandr Tuchkin RUS
URS
2 0 1 3
Kari Aalvik Grimsbø NOR 2 0 1 3
Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren NOR 2 0 1 3

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Yu So-Jeong KOR 1 0 0 1
Blaž Janc SLO 1 0 0 1
Kim Bo-Eun KOR 1 0 0 1
Mathilde Bjerregaard DEN 1 0 0 1
Amanda Brogaard DEN 1 0 0 1
Pernille Clausen DEN 1 0 0 1
Rikke Ebbesen DEN 1 0 0 1
Anne Ernstrøm DEN 1 0 0 1
Camilla Fangel DEN 1 0 0 1
Rikke Iversen DEN 1 0 0 1
Mathilde Juncker DEN 1 0 0 1
Camilla Madsen DEN 1 0 0 1
Julie Parkhøi DEN 1 0 0 1
Signe Pedersen DEN 1 0 0 1
Nicoline Skals DEN 1 0 0 1
Sara Smidemann DEN 1 0 0 1
Cecilie Woller DEN 1 0 0 1
Karim Abdelrahim EGY 1 0 0 1
Aly Agamy EGY 1 0 0 1
Abdelrahman Aly EGY 1 0 0 1
Mohamed Aly EGY 1 0 0 1
Mostafa Awadalla EGY 1 0 0 1
Mostafa Bechir EGY 1 0 0 1
Omar El-Maarry EGY 1 0 0 1
Kareem El-Menshawy EGY 1 0 0 1
Ahmed Elwan EGY 1 0 0 1
Ahmed Ibrahim EGY 1 0 0 1
Mustafa Khalil EGY 1 0 0 1
Mohammed Maher EGY 1 0 0 1
Alley Mohsen EGY 1 0 0 1
Abdelrahman Shatta EGY 1 0 0 1
Choi Ji-Hyeon KOR 1 0 0 1
Chun Hye-Su KOR 1 0 0 1
Hur You-Jin KOR 1 0 0 1
Kang Da-Hye KOR 1 0 0 1
Gang Eun-Hye KOR 1 0 0 1
Gang Gyeong-Min KOR 1 0 0 1
Kim Seong-Eun KOR 1 0 0 1
Kim So-Ra KOR 1 0 0 1
Lee Ga-Hee KOR 1 0 0 1
Park Jo-Eun KOR 1 0 0 1
Park Jun-Hee KOR 1 0 0 1
Park Min-Jeong KOR 1 0 0 1
Jakob Beđeti SLO 1 0 0 1
Rok Cvetko SLO 1 0 0 1
Urh Kastelic SLO 1 0 0 1
Aleks Kavčič SLO 1 0 0 1
Luka Kikanović SLO 1 0 0 1
Matic Kotar SLO 1 0 0 1
Jaka Malus SLO 1 0 0 1
Gal Marguč SLO 1 0 0 1
Jan Prevolnik SLO 1 0 0 1
Leon Rašo SLO 1 0 0 1
Tilen Sokolič SLO 1 0 0 1
Darko Stojnić SLO 1 0 0 1
Žiga Urbič SLO 1 0 0 1

Event types

Name Gender Still contested? Times held?
Handball Men 15
Handball Women 12
Handball Boys 2
Handball Girls 2