Sweden and Croatia clash during the 1996 gold medal game.
In an odd and roundabout way, the phrase "team handball" serves as another illustration of how powerful New York City is in American and Western popular culture. It's the center of the universe for gloved-palm court handball -- an individual wall-based game -- and the only reason why the Olympic sport needs an extra adjective (nobody says "team hockey" or "team basketball," for instance). For those who live outside the boroughs, it's a line of distinction that's unnecessary, and it's just another layer of confusion that exists between the U.S. and this great sport.
Handball, in a lot of ways, is opposite to football. On offense, you carry it, not kick it. Because of the speed of a launched shot, goalies rarely catch the ball in their hands, generally deflecting it with their arms and legs. There are a lot of rebounds in handball. Players on the attack cannot hold the ball for more than three seconds or take three steps without dribbling.
There are seven players per side (including the goalie), five available substitutes, and the game is played in 30-minute halves. The ground in the semicircular area around the goal is reserved for the keeper, which is why you'll often see attacking players leap and unleash an airborne shot over that line. The dashed line is the "free throw" line -- minor infractions will result in the opposing team getting a free shot. Major infractions, such as instances of excessive roughness on defense, can result in a hockey-style power play, or a penalty shot from inside the goalkeeper's protected space.
An 11-man version of handball was included at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. This could be a leading source of lingering anti-handball sentiment: some stories insist that Adolf Hitler himself forced his "favorite sport" onto the Olympic program. But the 1936 Official Report insists that there was an International Handball Federation at the time, and that there were 40 countries playing the sport. Besides, field handball was added to the 1936 Games in January 1933, just before Hitler assumed absolute power. As for the tournament, Germany won easily with five decisive victories.The Americans, despite having played the game since 1930, were overwhelmed in the six-team tournament, scoring six goals and yielding 46.
Handball disappeared from the menu after that, and there weren't any Olympic Games at all until 1948, due to World War II. The current IHF was instituted in 1946, but had to wait until Munich 1972 to gain Olympic status. That tournament was won by the Yugoslavians, while East and West Germany finished fourth and sixth, respectively. The first women's tournament was in 1976.
The men's handball world has been dominated first by Soviets, then by Eastern Europeans. On the women's side, the Olympic tournament has been the canvas for a blood feud between Denmark and South Korea in recent Olympiads.
Handball Fun Facts:
- Stickum is not only legal, it's encouraged. Players will put a gob of goo on their shoes and reload if their hands get too slippery.
- The Soviet women's team swept through the first two Olympic tournaments, not losing a single game in 1976 and 1980. After the boycotted 1984 Games, the U.S.S.R. showed vulnerability in a preliminary 19-19 tie with Norway, and then were finally defeated by the host South Korea in the final round, 21-19. The Koreans rode that golden mojo for eight years, going undefeated in 1992 at Barcelona. Finally, in the Atlanta gold medal game, Denmark defeated them 37-33 in OT. The Danes would go on to win the next two golds.
- Ever since the United States took part in the Atlanta 1996 tournament, which they got a free pass to for being the host nation, there has been no American handball presence at the Olympics. In 1996, the men finished with one win and four losses, earning a 27-26 overtime victory in the ninth-place classification match against Algeria. The women went 0-3.
- Kathryn Bertine of ESPN.com tried to make the American handball team, and found out how hard the sport is.
In 2008:
The fields for the men's and women's tournaments are already set. In Group A for the men will be Brazil, China (host nation), Croatia, France, Poland and Spain. Group B is made up of Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iceland, Russia and South Korea.
The women's Group A consists of Angola, China, France, Kazakhstan, Norway and Romania. Group B is Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Russia, South Korea and Sweden.
All-time Medal Standings:
Men
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Women
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
(Images via the 1996 Official Report and Bristol Handball Club)
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