RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Romania in the Olympic Games – Handball

A short overview of our country's handball participation in the Summer Olympics

Romania in the Olympic Games – Handball
Romania in the Olympic Games – Handball

, 25.08.2020, 13:45

Handball was
first introduced as an Olympic event in 1936, at the Berlin Olympics, with 11
field players. It was removed up until the 1972 Munich Olympics, when handball
was reintroduced with 7 field players, but only in the men’s competition. In
1976 women’s handball became an Olympic event.


For Romania, the
top performances came in the men’s competition. In 1972, our handballers
scooped bronze. Romania at the time grabbed 3 wins in the first group stage. In
the main group stage, however, Romania lost to Yugoslavia and thus only
qualified to the bronze final, where it defeated the German Democratic Republic
19-16. The competition’s top scorer that year was Gheorghe Gruia, with 37
goals.


In 1976, in Montreal,
Romania reached the final. The tournament consisted of two groups, Romania
winning one of them after defeating Hungary, the United States and Poland. It
drew against Czechoslovakia, and winning the group got Romania to the grand
final, where it lost 19-15 to the USSR, thus winning silver. Ştefan Birtalan
was the topscorer of the competition with 32 goals, alongside Bent Larsen of
Denmark.


In Moscow, in
1980, the Romanian men’s team walked home with bronze. Romania finished Group B
in second place, losing only to the USSR, which it however knocked out later
22-19. In the bronze final, Romania won 20-18 against Hungary.


Expectations
were running high for Romania at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, considering
countries from the pro-Soviet bloc decided to boycott the competition. Romania
was unfortunate however to be drawn in Group A, where they were outperformed by
Yugoslavia 18-19, thus missing their chance to play the big final. In the
bronze final, Romania defeated Denmark 23-19. Since then, Romania managed to
qualify to the Olympic Games only once, in 1992 in Barcelona.


In the women’s
competition, Romania’s first presence came in in 1976 in Canada. A 24-year
break followed, until the Sydney Olympics of 2000. Our handballers managed to
qualify to the 2008 and 2016 editions, but never managed to get past the
quarterfinals.


(Translated by
V. Palcu)




Sports Roundup
Sport Monday, 04 November 2024

Sports Roundup

  Romania concluded the European Junior and U23 Championships in weightlifting held in Raszyn, Poland, with 11 medals, of which 4 gold, one...

Sports Roundup
Sports Roundup
Sport Friday, 01 November 2024

Sports Weekend

Romania’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday outperformed German side Fuchse Berlin 38-31 in a home game counting towards the Champions...

Sports Weekend
Sports - Photo: Gerd Altmann / pixabay.com)
Sport Thursday, 31 October 2024

Sports flash

Romanian women’s basketball team Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe have succeeded their first win in EuroCup’s Group C. On Wednesday, holders Sepsi grabbed...

Sports flash
Photo: phillipkofler / pixabay.com
Sport Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Radio Romania International Sports club

Romanian Cup in football’s group phase kick-started on Tuesday. As part of the 2024-2025 edition, Romania’s best teams will thus prove their...

Radio Romania International Sports club
Sport Monday, 28 October 2024

Sports Round-up

The Romanian football Superleague matches were held this weekend. This leg’s derby was undoubtedly Sunday’s match hosted by the National Arena...

Sports Round-up
Sport Thursday, 24 October 2024

Sports flash

Dynamo Bucharest men’s handball team, on home turf on Wednesday, defeated Portuguese opponents Sporting Lisbon, 33-29, in a fixture counting...

Sports flash
Sport Wednesday, 23 October 2024

RRI Sport Club– Women’s handball

At the end of next month, a new edition of the European Women’s Handball Championship is scheduled to start. Matches will take place in...

RRI Sport Club– Women’s handball
Sport Tuesday, 22 October 2024

Athlete of the week – Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs

Last week, the European Table Tennis Championships were held in Linz, Austria. Romania was represented by 11 athletes: six girls and five boys. The...

Athlete of the week – Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company