Before Sydney 2000, Australia’s national handball team had never gone close to reaching the Olympics. The sport’s entire participation base was about 500 people. Their world ranking was a similar number – most Australians thought handball was the game they played in the schoolyard with a tennis ball.
In Europe, however, it’s kind of a big deal. Handball is often played in front of sell-out crowds in countries like Spain, Germany and Denmark. Many of the world’s biggest soccer clubs – FC Barcelona, Paris-Saint Germain, Bayern Munich – have popular handball divisions.
Vince Rugari, 2 October 2020, Sydney Morning Herald
