Handball

        Handball became an Olympic sport in1936. It is a fast paced game. There are two teams of seven players who pass, catch, throw, and dribble a small ball with their hands while trying to score goals. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins. The game has two thirty minute halves with a ten minute half-time break. Men and women are in separate events. The only difference is that the men’s event has 12 teams while the women’s event is a 10 team tournament. Handball was first played at the end of the 19th century in Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. After the men’s game was played on turf football fields at the 1936 games in Berlin, the sport appeared as its indoor form in the 1972 Games in Munich. The women’s division started in 1976 and now it is one of the most highly attended Olympic sports.

For more information visit:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.asp?sportcode=hb

¬ ®