Handball

Australian Team Profile

The fast and furious sport of handball will once again be compelling viewing at the Olympic Games.

Australia is not represented in 2008 and has only ever once played the sport at Olympic level, in 2000 when it was the host nation.

Handball became an Olympic sport in Berlin in 1936, with the gold medal being won by Germany.

The 11-a-side form of the game did not reappear on the Olympic program after World War II and its popularity began to wane.

The sport reappeared in the indoor form, once again for men only, at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.

The women's competition was introduced four years later in Montreal and both have remained on the Olympic program ever since.