Handball at the 1984 Summer Olympics
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Handball at the 1984 Summer Olympics featured competition for men and women. Due to the USSR-led boycott some strong handball nations from Eastern Bloc did not compete; this gave an opportunity to the Yugoslav team to take both gold medals. Games were played at Titan Gym in Fullerton, California, and the finals were at the Forum, later the Kia Forum, in Inglewood, California.[1][2]
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  United States |
| Venue | Titan Gym |
| Dates | 31 July – 11 August 1984 |
| Teams | 18 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Yugoslavia (men) Yugoslavia (women) |
| Runners-up |  West Germany (men) South Korea (women) |
| Third place |  Romania (men) China (women) |
| Fourth place |  Denmark (men) West Germany (women) |
Qualification
Men
| Qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | 18 May 1978 |  Athens | 1 | United States |
| 1982 World Championship | 23 February – 7 March 1982 | West Germany | 6 |  Soviet Union Yugoslavia Poland Denmark Romania East Germany West Germany Spain Japan |
| 1983 World Championship B | 25 February – 6 March 1983 |  Netherlands |  Hungary Czechoslovakia Sweden Switzerland Iceland2 | |
| Asian qualification tournament | 12–20 November 1983 | Sagamihara | 1 | Japan South Korea |
| 1983 Pan American Men's Handball Championship | 2–6 February 1972 | Colorado Springs |  Cuba Canada | |
| 1983 African Men's Handball Championship | 22–31 July 1983 |  Cairo | 1 |  Algeria |
| Total | 12 | |||
Women
| Qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | 18 May 1978 | Athens | 1 | United States |
| 1982 World Championship | 2–12 December 1982 | Hungary | Soviet Union Hungary Yugoslavia East Germany South Korea | |
| Intercontinental Olympic Qualification | - | - | 1 | China3 |
| 1983 World Championship B | 7–15 December 1983 | Poland | West Germany Austria | |
| Total | 6 | |||
1:Teams joined Soviet lead boycott
2: Canada was invited to replace Cuba, but rejected the invitation, because COA supposed the team is not good enough. Then, IHF invited Iceland.[3]
3:
Brazil and Canada withdraw. So China qualified without play.[4]
Medal summary
Participating nations
Each qualified country was allowed to enter one team of 15 players and they all were eligible for participation. Four nations competed in both tournaments.
A total of 259(*) handball players (177 men and 82 women) from 14 nations (men from 12 nations - women from 6 nations) competed at the Los Angeles Games:
Algeria (15) (men:15 women:0)
Austria (15) (men:0 women:15)
China (13) (men:0 women:13)
Denmark (14) (men:14 women:0)
West Germany (28) (men:15 women:13)
Iceland (15) (men:15 women:0)
Japan (15) (men:15 women:0)
Romania (15) (men:15 women:0)
South Korea (28) (men:15 women:13)
Spain (15) (men:15 women:0)
Sweden (15) (men:15 women:0)
Switzerland (15) (men:15 women:0)
United States (27) (men:14 women:13)
Yugoslavia (29) (men:14 women:15)
(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least.
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yugoslavia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | South Korea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| West Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | China | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Romania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (5 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Railing collapse
The only multi-casualty event noted in the 1984 official report of the Los Angeles Olympics was a small one at team handball where a railing on the bleachers collapsed. The first aid team and the chief medical officer handled the situation quickly and professionally. First aid teams were responsible for moving victims from the stands and broken railings. However, a concern that was not anticipated was the lack of experience in carrying patients from the stands.[5] Four of eight spectators who fell through a wooden railing while trying to catch bouquets from victorious Olympic medal-winners suffered minor injuries but were not hospitalized.[6]