Handball, a sport born at the end of the nineteenth century in Scandinavia and Germany, has rapidly evolved to become a major discipline throughout the world. Two versions of the sport coexisted until 1966, when the indoor version took over the grass version. Today, handball is played on a 40m x 20m indoor court, where two teams of seven players compete in a game of quick passing, spectacular shots and physical contact.
At the Olympic Games, handball made its debut in Berlin in 1936 before becoming a demonstration sport in 1952 and then re-entering the Olympic indoor programme in Munich in 1972. The women’s event was added four years later in Montreal. Despite its physical and spectacular nature, handball is largely dominated by European nations in the Olympic rankings, with the notable exception of South Korea’s two victories at the 1988 and 1992 Games in the women’s tournament.
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