Venue(s) 1 (in 1 host city) | Dates 6–21 August 2016 | |
Teams 24 (from 5 confederations) | ||
The handball tournaments at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held from 6 to 21 August at the Future Arena in the Barra Olympic Park.
Contents
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee might enter up to one men's and one women's team in the handball tournaments. The qualification processes for the men's and women's events were similar. The host country was guaranteed an entry in each event, as was the 2015 World Champion (runner-up if the Olympic host was the champion). 4 more spots were awarded to the winners of continental qualification tournaments (for Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, with the runner-up qualifying if the winner was the Olympic host or the World Champion). Finally, 6 spots were awarded through 3 Olympic Qualification Tournaments. These tournaments were open to the top 6 teams from the World Championship that had not already qualified as well as 6 entrants determined through a complex continental qualification algorithm; the 12 teams were divided into 3 tournaments of 4 teams each, with the top 2 teams in each tournament qualifying.
Women's qualification
^ 1. Norway won the European Championship, ensuring its qualification. Norway later also won the 2015 World Championship title, which took precedence in the qualification path. Therefore, the European Championship's runner-up, Spain, received the European continental tournament berth.
Draw
The draw took place on 29 April 2016.
Men's competition
The competition consisted of two stages; a group stage followed by a knockout stage.
Group stage
The teams were divided into two groups of six nations, playing every team in their group once. Two points were awarded for a victory, one for a draw. The top four teams per group qualified for the quarter-finals.
Women's competition
The competition consisted of two stages; a group stage followed by a knockout stage.
Group stage
The teams were divided into two groups of six nations, playing every team in their group once. Two points were awarded for a victory, one for a draw. The top four teams per group qualified for the quarter-finals.