Handball as we know it was invented in Germany and Scandinavia in the late 1800s, but sports of a similar nature can be traced back all the way to ancient Greece. A game known as ourania was described in Homer's Odyssey and the episkyros, later known as harpastum to the Romans, was also played in ancient Greece. Both of these games involved two teams, where the main objective was to advance the ball to a certain point with your hands or to keep it from the opposition. 

With longstanding ties to Germany, it is no surprise men's handball made its first Olympic appearance in 1936 when Berlin was the host country.  Handball took a hiatus from Olympic competition until Germany once again held the Games in 1972, this time in Munich. Since the 1972 Games, men's handball has remained on the Olympic program. Women's handball was introduced to the Olympics at the 1976 Games in Montreal, Canada.

The U.S. men's team finished sixth at the 1936 Berlin Games. The team consisted largely of European immigrants and first-generation athletes from the New York and New Jersey area.

Handball was played on an outdoor field with 11 men per side. Six teams took part in the Berlin Games and were split into two groups of three.

The U.S. has never won a medal in Olympic handball in either gender tournament. Handball is one of three sports that the U.S. has never won a medal with table tennis and badminton being the others. 

In the men's and women's tournaments combined, France and Denmark are tied for the most gold medals in Olympic handball at four. However, France has won seven medals, which is more than Denmark which has won five medals.  

The gold-medal match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the men's tournament was a rematch of the 2016 Rio Games between France and Denmark. It was a close contest between the two sides, but France was able to beat Denmark 25-23 and win gold. In the bronze-medal match, Spain defeated Egypt 33-31.

The French women's team also won gold in handball at the Tokyo Games after beating Russia 30-25 in the final. Norway comfortably claimed bronze when the team dominated Sweden in a 36-19 win. 

Off of the Olympic program since its Berlin debut, handball was saved from international obscurity when organizers made it a medal sport again for the Munich Games. This time, it was played on an indoor court, and with only seven men per side. 

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, women competed in handball for the first time.

Tokyo, 2020

The gold-medal match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the men's tournament was a rematch of the 2016 Rio Games between France and Denmark. It was a close contest between the two sides, but France was able to beat Denmark 25-23 and win gold. In the bronze-medal match, Spain defeated Egypt 33-31.

The French women's team also won gold in handball at the Tokyo Games after beating Russia 30-25 in the final. Norway comfortably claimed bronze when the team dominated Sweden in a 36-19 win. 

Rio, 2016

Russia won gold at the 2016 Games in the women's tournament, taking down France 22-19 in a close contest. In the bronze-medal match, Norway took care of the Netherlands 36-26 to leave Rio with a medal. 

For the men, handball powerhouses Denmark and France met in the gold-medal match. Denmark was able to win gold, narrowly beating France 28-26. It was another close game in the bronze-medal match as Germany defeated Poland 31-25. 

London, 2012

On the women's side, Norway earned their second consecutive Olympic gold medal, defeating Montenegro, 26-23, in the final. The Norwegians were led by the stellar goalkeeping of Kari Aalvik Grimsbo, who led the tournament in save percentage, and Heidi Loke, who was named the All-Star line player for the tournament.

With another repeat winner on the men's side, France captured its second straight Olympic gold medal. The French defeated Sweden, 22-21, to once again stand atop the podium. 

Beijing, 2008

Seeking Olympic redemption after a quarterfinal exit in Athens, France defeated Iceland in the gold-medal match, 28-23, in Beijing. An Iceland win would have marked the first Olympic gold medal for the country.  Spain captured the bronze medal behind the monumental efforts of 5-foot-9 Juan Garcia, who led the tournament in scoring with 49 goals, including seven against 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning Croatia in the final match.

With the three-time defending Olympic champion Denmark having failed to qualify, women's handball crowned a new champion in Beijing.  Norway dominated Russia en route to a 34-27 victory to capture the gold medal.  South Korea earned its sixth medal in the women's tournament, defeating Hungary 33-28 for the bronze.

Athens, 2004

After winning gold in Atlanta in 1996, Croatia failed to qualify for the Sydney Games. The nation returned to the top of the medal platform in dominant fashion, capping an unbeaten run through the Olympic tournament with a 26-24 victory over Germany. Germany played the final without Pascal Hens, one of its most experienced players, who was injured in a game against France.

Katrine Freuland fired off 15 goals to help Denmark snare a second straight women's Olympic gold medal with a 38-36 win of Korea in the final. The win marked a spectacular turnaround for the Sydney champions, who were relegated to sixth place at the 2003 world championships, where they were beaten soundly by the Hungarians in a fifth place classification match.

Sydney, 2000

For the third consecutive Olympics, Sweden lost the men's handball final, this time to Russia by a 28-26 score maddeningly reminiscent of four years earlier. It was the first handball gold for Russia, though the Soviet Union had won the men's title twice and the Unified Team was Olympic champion in 1992.

Atlanta, 1996

Croatia, runner-up at the 1995 World Championships, edged Sweden, 27-26, in the final to win gold. The Swedes went undefeated in pool play, easily handling the Croats there, but Sweden was unable to overcome a balanced Croatian attack in the final.

In the men's handball bronze-medal game, defending world champion France suffered a surprising, 27-25, loss to Spain, the final team to qualify for Atlanta. Spain's sudden success was thanks largely to Talant Dujshebaev, who won a gold medal in 1992 while playing for the Unified Team.

On the women's side, Denmark captured gold after holding off South Korea 37-33 in the final. The Danes were led by Anja Andersen and Susanne Munk Wilbek who were each named the tournament's All-Star team.

Barcelona, 1992

Following U.N. cultural sanctions, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) forbade Yugoslavia from participating in the 1992 Olympics. Last-minute nation substitutes were named, and both fared well: Norway's women took silver and Iceland finished fourth in the men's tournament.

Two years after winning the gold medal in Seoul, the South Korean women had finished 11th at the 1990 World Championships. But the team swiftly rebuilt and successfully defended its Olympic title, beating Norway, 28-21, in the final.

Seoul, 1988

Upgrading from 1984 silver to 1988 gold, host South Korea took the women's handball title. A day later, its men tried to do the same, but a boisterous crowd wasn't enough as the Soviet Union defeated South Korea, 32-25, in the final. Still, with second place, South Korea became the first non-European team to win an Olympic medal in men's handball.

The U.S. women finished seventh, with their only win coming against the Ivory Coast. In the first half of that game, substitute Sherry Winn refused to move to the end of the bench, prompting coach Mihaly Faludi to walk off the court and into the stands. After halftime, the coach returned and Winn was forced to leave.

Los Angeles, 1984

A day after Yugoslavia became the first non-Soviet nation to take an Olympic women's handball title, its men, aided by nine penalty shots, also won gold with an 18-17 victory over West Germany before 12,958 spectators at the Forum. The U.S. men finished 1-4-1 and in ninth place; the women (2-3) tied for fourth.

Moscow, 1980

Following its victory in the Olympic debut of women's handball four years earlier, the host USSR went a perfect 5-0 in Moscow to repeat as gold medalist. The closest the Soviets came to defeat was against Hungary in early-round action, when they led just 12-11 with five minutes remaining before closing with a 4-0 run and 16-11 victory.

As a member of East Germany's third-place handball team in Moscow, Roswitha Krause earned a handball bronze medal to go along with the silver she'd won in 1976. In 1968, Krause won a silver medal in swimming as part of East Germany's 4x100m freestyle relay.

Montreal, 1976

As in 1972, Romania entered the Games as the defending world champion but did not strike Olympic gold again in Montreal, falling to the Soviet Union in the final, 19-15. Reigning Olympic champion Yugoslavia finished fifth, despite just a single loss (by one point, to West Germany). Yugoslavia was the lone team to beat the Soviets.

Women competed in handball for the first time at the 1976 Games. The Soviet Union earned the gold, with East Germany and Hungary capturing silver and bronze, respectively. 

Munich, 1972

Off of the Olympic program since its Berlin debut, handball was saved from international obscurity when organizers made it a medal sport again for the Munich Games. This time, it was played on an indoor court, and with only seven men per side.

Host Germany failed to duplicate its dominance from 1936, finishing sixth. Yugoslavia upset defending world champion Romania, 14-13, before defeating Czechoslovakia, 21-16, to win the gold. Romania finished third.

Berlin, 1936

Host Germany was allowed to add one sport to the Olympic program. It chose handball, which at the time was played on an outdoor field with 11 men per side.

Germany confirmed its handball prowess, winning its first four games by a combined score of 86-13 (including a 29-1 rout of the U.S.), then defeating Austria 10-6 to win the first Olympic gold medal in handball. The United States went 0-3 to finish last in the six-team tournament.