The Copper Top (pictured), named because of it's colorful resemblance to copper, is the venue for every handball match from preliminaries to the quarterfinals. From there, the semifinals and medal matches are over at Basketball Arena.
24 men and women teams have qualified for the handball portion of the Olympics. Historically, it has been the Soviets/Unified Team that have been dominant on the mens side, with three wins. The Soviet men first won at Montreal 1976, defeating Romania in the final. The Soviets did it again at Seoul 1988, knocking off South Korea on their home soil in the final. The Soviets would do it for the final time as the Unified Team defeated Sweden in the final at Barcelona 1992. France is the defending men's Olympic champion, where they defeated Iceland in the final at Beijing 2008.
On the women's side, Denmark is the most dominant program, gold medal wise. The Danish women won three straight, starting with Atlanta 1996, where they defeated South Korea in the final. At Sydney 2000, they made it back to back with a win over Hungary in the final. And at Athens 2004, they once again defeated South Korea in the final. South Korea has had the most appearances in the gold medal match with five, since women's play first started at Montreal 1976. Norway is the defending Olympic champion, where they defeated Russia in the final at Beijing 2008.
As for the 24 teams that have qualified...
MEN
Group A
France (FRA)
Sweden (SWE)
Iceland (ISL)
Great Britain (GBR)
Argentina (ARG)
Tunisia (TUN)
Group B
Spain (ESP)
Croatia (CRO)
Hungary (HUN)
Serbia (SRB)
Denmark (DEN)
South Korea (KOR)
WOMEN
Group A
Montenegro (MNE)
Russia (RUS)
Croatia (CRO)
Great Britain (GBR)
Brazil (BRA)
Angola (ANG)
Group B
Norway (NOR)
Spain (ESP)
Denmark (DEN)
France (FRA)
Sweden (SWE)
South Korea (KOR)
Up next: a look at modern pentathlon.
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