Handball at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

1988 Women's Olympic handball tournament
Tournament details
Host country	South Korea
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	21–29 September 1988
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	South Korea (1st title)
Runners-up	Norway
Third place	Soviet Union
Fourth place	Yugoslavia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	873 (43.65 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sun Xiulan ; (36 goals)
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Last updated August 02, 2025

The women's tournament was one of two handball tournaments at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was the fourth appearance of a women's handball tournament at the Olympic Games. South Korea took the gold medals for the first time, ahead of Norway and the Soviet Union.^[1]

Qualification

Mean of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	30 September 1981	Baden-Baden	1	South Korea
1986 World Championship	4–14 December 1986	Netherlands	3	Soviet Union Czechoslovakia Norway
1987 African Championship	July 1987	Rabat	1	Ivory Coast
1987 Pan American Games	9–16 August 1987	Indianapolis	1	United States
1987 Asian Championship	20–27 August 1987	Amman	1	China
1987 World Championship Group B	9–18 December 1987	Bulgaria	1	Yugoslavia
Total			8

Team rosters

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea (H)	3	2	1	76	67	+9	4^[a]	Final round
2	Yugoslavia	3	2	1	58	58	0	4^[a]	Final round
3	Czechoslovakia	3	2	1	81	69	+12	4^[a]	Placement round
4	United States	3	0	3	55	76	−21	0	Placement round

Source: ^[2]
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1 2 3 25% rule: South Korea +3 GD, Yugoslavia –1 GD, Czechoslovakia –2 GD

21 September 1988 14:00	Czechoslovakia	27–33	South Korea	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Lelong, Tancrez (FRA)
	Hejtmánková, Lupačová 6	(9–15)	Kim H. 8
	2× 5× 1×		2× 3×

21 September 1988 18:00	Yugoslavia	19–18	United States	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Marin, Şerban (ROU)
	Galic, S. Mugoša 5	(10–8)	Jones 9
	2× 3×		2× 3×

23 September 1988 14:00	Czechoslovakia	33–19	United States	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Christensen, Jørgensen (DEN)
	Damitšová 8	(13–11)	Jones 10
	1× 3×		1× 6×

23 September 1988 18:00	Yugoslavia	22–19	South Korea	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Guterman, Taranuhin (URS)
	Kolega 6	(10–13)	Kim C. 6
	1× 3×		2×

25 September 1988 14:00	South Korea	24–18	United States	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Blademo, Wester (SWE)
	Kim C. 7	(11–10)	Jones 6
	2× 4×		2× 3×

25 September 1988 18:00	Czechoslovakia	21–17	Yugoslavia	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Ludvigsen, Sjong (NOR)
	Ďurišinová 9	(8–7)	Galic 4
	2× 6×		1× 7× 1×

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Soviet Union	3	2	1	0	75	49	+26	5^[a]	Final round
2	Norway	3	2	1	0	75	53	+22	5^[a]	Final round
3	China	3	1	0	2	76	58	+18	2	Placement round
4	Ivory Coast	3	0	0	3	37	103	−66	0	Placement round

Source: ^[2]
Notes:

1 2 25% rule: Soviet Union +5 GD, Norway +2 GD

21 September 1988 15:30	Soviet Union	24–19	China	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Jug, Jeglič (YUG)
	Tovstohan 5	(12–9)	Sun 8
	3× 4×		3× 1×

21 September 1988 19:30	Norway	34–14	Ivory Coast	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Lee, Park (KOR)
	Midthun 7	(15–8)	Kramou 5
	3× 1×		2× 7×

23 September 1988 15:30	Soviet Union	32–11	Ivory Coast	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Zaworotny, Brosio (ARG)
	Morskova 8	(14–7)	Kramou 4
	1× 2×		2× 7×

23 September 1988 19:30	Norway	22–20	China	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Hofmann, Prause (FRG)
	Steen 6	(12–10)	Chen, Sun 4
	2× 2×		1× 2×

25 September 1988 15:30	China	37–12	Ivory Coast	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Lelong, Tancrez (FRA)
	Sun 10	(20–4)	Djoman 3
	2×		3×

25 September 1988 19:30	Soviet Union	19–19	Norway	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Rauchfuß, Buchda (GDR)
	Lapitskaya 5	(13–10)	Svendsen 5
	3× 4× 1×		3× 2×

Placement round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Czechoslovakia	3	3	0	93	52	+41	6
6	China	3	2	1	89	60	+29	4
7	United States	3	1	2	68	80	−12	2
8	Ivory Coast	3	0	3	40	98	−58	0

Source: ^[3]

27 September 1988 14:00	China	31–22	United States	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Haak, Koppe (NED)
	Sun 10	(12–13)	Jones 6
	3× 3×		3× 2×

27 September 1988 15:30	Ivory Coast	12–34	Czechoslovakia	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Kim, Park (KOR)
	Kramou 5	(5–16)	Hejtmánková 7
	3× 3×		3× 2×

29 September 1988 14:00	Ivory Coast	16–27	United States	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Lee, Park (KOR)
	Bah, Kramou 5	(6–14)	three players 4
	2× 4×		1× 2×

29 September 1988 15:30	China	21–26	Czechoslovakia	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Blademo, Wester (SWE)
	Chen 7	(10–9)	Budayová, Ďurišinová 6
	2× 3×		2× 3×

Final round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	South Korea (H)	3	2	0	1	63	61	+2	4
	Norway	3	1	1	1	59	57	+2	3^[a]
	Soviet Union	3	1	1	1	56	55	+1	3^[a]
4	Yugoslavia	3	1	0	2	52	57	−5	2

Source: ^[4]
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1 2 25% rule: Norway +2 GD, Soviet Union +1 GD

27 September 1988 18:00	Yugoslavia	15–18	Soviet Union	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Christensen, Jørgensen (DEN)
	Galic 5	(8–9)	Morskova 6
	2× 5×		1× 4×

27 September 1988 19:30	South Korea	23–20	Norway	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Hofmann, Prause (FRG)
	Kim H., Kim M. 5	(10–9)	Sundal 6
	2× 3×		2× 2×

29 September 1988 18:00	Yugoslavia	15–20	Norway	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Marin, Şerban (ROU)
	Galic, S. Mugoša 3	(10–9)	Steen 5
	3× 5×		2× 6×

29 September 1988 19:30	South Korea	21–19	Soviet Union	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon Referees: Rauchfuß, Buchda (GDR)
	Lim 6	(13–11)	Morskova 7
	2× 2×		1× 3×

Final ranking

Rank	Team
	South Korea
	Norway
	Soviet Union
4	Yugoslavia
5	Czechoslovakia
6	China
7	United States
8	Ivory Coast

References

↑ "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
1 2 "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Preliminary rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
↑ "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Placement rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
↑ "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Final rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

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[table_hth_KOR0.60558164287618-2] 1 2 3 25% rule: South Korea +3 GD, Yugoslavia –1 GD, Czechoslovakia –2 GD

[table_hth_URS0.69718906595241-4] 1 2 25% rule: Soviet Union +5 GD, Norway +2 GD

[table_hth_NOR0.47039717969969-6] 1 2 25% rule: Norway +2 GD, Soviet Union +1 GD

[1] "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

[PreliminaryRounds-3] 1 2 "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Preliminary rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

[5] "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Placement rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

[7] "Handball at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Women's Handball - Final rounds". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

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