# Handball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's handball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics was contested by eight teams divided in two groups, with the top two proceeding to the semifinals and the bottom two proceeding to placement matches.

## Qualification

| Mean of qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| 1994 European Championship | 17–25 September 1994 | Germany | 1 | Germany* |
| 1995 Pan American Games | 15–24 March 1995 | Mar del Plata | 1 | United States |
| 1995 Asian Championship | 6–8 May 1995 | Seoul | 1 | China* |
| African qualification tournament | 9 August 1995 | Abidjan | 1 | Angola |
| 1995 World Championship | 5–17 December 1995 | Austria Hungary | 4 | South Korea Hungary Denmark Norway |
| Total | Total | Total | 8 | |

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Denmark | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 62 | +27 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Hungary | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 81 | 70 | +11 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 3 | China | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 71 | 83 | −12 | 2 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | United States (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 90 | −26 | 0 | Seventh place game |
| 26 July 1996 10:00 | Hungary | 29–19 | China | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Øie, Høgsnes (NOR) |
| 26 July 1996 10:00 | Mátéfi 11 | (14–11) | Shi 5 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Øie, Høgsnes (NOR) |
| 26 July 1996 14:30 | Denmark | 29–19 | United States | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |
| 26 July 1996 14:30 | A. Andersen 8 | (13–9) | Hires 8 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |
| 28 July 1996 12:00 | China | 21–33 | Denmark | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO) |
| 28 July 1996 12:00 | Shi 6 | (9–19) | Madsen 7 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO) |
| 28 July 1996 14:30 | United States | 24–30 | Hungary | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| 28 July 1996 14:30 | Hires 8 | (8–19) | Németh 6 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| 30 July 1996 10:00 | Hungary | 22–27 | Denmark | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP) |
| 30 July 1996 10:00 | Mátéfi 7 | (12–14) | C. Andersen 7 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP) |
| 30 July 1996 16:30 | China | 31–21 | United States | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Guterman, Gedvilas (LTU) |
| 30 July 1996 16:30 | Zhai 11 | (16–11) | Hires 6 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Guterman, Gedvilas (LTU) |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 60 | +23 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 66 | +13 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 73 | −3 | 2 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | Angola | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 82 | −33 | 0 | Seventh place game |
| 26 July 1996 12:00 | Norway | 30–18 | Angola | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Boehne, Bojsen (USA) |
| 26 July 1996 12:00 | Grini 10 | (15–7) | Barbosa 4 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Boehne, Bojsen (USA) |
| 26 July 1996 16:30 | South Korea | 33–20 | Germany | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN) |
| 26 July 1996 16:30 | Lim 7 | (17–12) | Erler, Luca 4 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN) |
| 28 July 1996 10:00 | Angola | 19–25 | South Korea | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Dăncescu, Mateescu (ROU) |
| 28 July 1996 10:00 | Webba 7 | (8–15) | three players 5 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Dăncescu, Mateescu (ROU) |
| 28 July 1996 16:30 | Germany | 23–28 | Norway | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Garcia, Moréno (FRA) |
| 28 July 1996 16:30 | Ritskiavitchius 8 | (11–15) | Grini 10 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Garcia, Moréno (FRA) |
| 30 July 1996 12:00 | Germany | 27–12 | Angola | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Al-Houli, Al-Enezi (KUW) |
| 30 July 1996 12:00 | Jurack, Waelzer 5 | (10–6) | Webba 5 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Al-Houli, Al-Enezi (KUW) |
| 30 July 1996 14:30 | South Korea | 25–21 | Norway | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO) |
| 30 July 1996 14:30 | Lim 9 | (12–10) | Grini 7 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO) |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Gold medal game | Gold medal game |
| 1 August | 1 August |
| Denmark | 23 |
| Denmark | 23 | 3 August | 3 August |
| Norway | 19 | 3 August | 3 August |
| Norway | 19 | Denmark (OT) | 37 |
| 1 August | 1 August | | Denmark (OT) | 37 |
| 1 August | 1 August | South Korea | 33 |
| South Korea | 39 | South Korea | 33 |
| Hungary | 25 | | |
| Hungary | 25 | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game |
| | | 3 August | 3 August |
| | | Norway | 18 |
| | | Hungary | 20 |

### Semifinals

| 1 August 1996 11:45 | Denmark | 23–19 | Norway | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| 1 August 1996 11:45 | A. Andersen 9 | (12–6) | Grini, Larsen 4 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| 1 August 1996 16:15 | South Korea | 39–25 | Hungary | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |
| 1 August 1996 16:15 | Hong 9 | (19–10) | Mátéfi 5 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |

### Seventh place game

| 1 August 1996 10:00 | United States | 23–24 | Angola | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO) |
| 1 August 1996 10:00 | Cain 8 | (11–11) | Barbosa 6 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO) |

### Fifth place game

| 1 August 1996 14:30 | Germany | 26–28 | China | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO) |
| 1 August 1996 14:30 | Heinz 7 | (12–16) | Shi 12 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO) |

### Bronze medal game

| 3 August 1996 15:30 | Norway | 18–20 | Hungary | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |
| 3 August 1996 15:30 | Grini 8 | (9–7) | four players 3 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED) |

### Gold medal game

| 3 August 1996 17:15 | Denmark | 37–33 (ET) | South Korea | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| 3 August 1996 17:15 | A. Andersen 11 | (13–17) | Lim 15 | Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |
| Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER) |||

## Rankings and statistics

Final rankings :
| 1 | Denmark |
| 2 | South Korea |
| 3 | Hungary |
| 4 | Norway |
| 5 | China |
| 6 | Germany |
| 7 | Angola |
| 8 | United States |
Top goalscorers :
| Player | Games | Goals | Attempts |
| 1. Lim O-kyeong | 5 | 41 | 58 |
| 2. Kjersti Grini | 5 | 39 | 74 |
| 3. Eszter Mátéfi | 5 | 35 | 58 |
| 4. Anja Andersen | 5 | 33 | 55 |
| 5. Shi Wei | 4 | 31 | 63 |
| 6. Zhai Chao | 4 | 29 | 52 |
| 7. Chryssandra Hires | 4 | 26 | 55 |
| 8. Oh Seong-ok | 5 | 24 | 47 |
All-star team :
| Susanne Lauritsen (goalkeeper) |||
| Kjersti Grini (left back) | Anja Andersen (right back) | Hong Jeong-ho (right wing) |
| Kim Eun-mi (left wing) | Erzsébet Kocsis (line player) | Lim O-kyeong (central back) |