Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

11. Competition Management
by Sport
328
11.11
Handball
Twelve teams for men and eight teams
for women competed in the Olympic
handball competitions at the Suwon
Gymnasium and Olympic Gymnastics
Hall, from September 20 to October 1;
men's teams played a total of 36
matches and women's teams 20
matches.
In both the men's and the women's
teams, the handball competitions
boiled down to contests between
Korea and the U.S.S.R. The U.S.S.R.
won the men's match, and the Korean
women's team captured the gold.
Five countries, namely, the U.S.S.R.,
Korea, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia,
and the People's Republic of China,
entered both men's and women's
teams in the Olympic competition,
bringing the total number of teams to
20 from 15 NOCs; the number of male
players totaled 180, and female players
totalled 120.
Despite the sport's low popularity and
the disadvantage of having the location
of venue in a provincial city, handball
began to explode in popularity as
soon as the Korean teams achieved
positive results.
Yugoslavia, the winner in the previous
Games in both the men's and the
women's events, trailed behind, with
the men's team placing third and the
women's team fourth; meanwhile, host
Korea captured the women's gold and
the men's silver.
11.11.1
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Competition Preparations
The SLOOC created the handball
office in January 1986, and Korea was
represented at the 11th World Men's
Handball Championships, the 21st
Session of the International Handball
Federation (IHF), and the 9th World
Women's Handball Championships.
The SLOOC organized a Handball
Operations Committee in February
1987, and published a 345-page handball
manual.
The SLOOC activated the Handball
Operations in January 1988, with the
organizational hierarchy being comprised
of a commissioner, secretarygeneral,
director, five managers and
21 officers. The operations headquarters
moved its office on June 2 to the
Suwon Gymnasium to begin the
preparations for Olympic competitions.
Various equipment and implements
were deployed to the designated
places, and the handball operation
headquarters held a ceremony to mark
its official inauguration on August 23.
The operation personnel for the handball
competitions totalled 443, consisting
of seven staff members of the
SLOOC, 178 support personnel, 238
volunteers, and 20 temporary
employees.
Job education for key officials above
the rank of officer was held in March
1988, and those key personnel spearheaded
job education and training for
all operation personnel between April
and May. In July, a four-day field adaptation
training was conducted, and
rehearsals were conducted three
times. A general rehearsal was conducted
on August 24.
Located about 35 kilometers from the
Olympic Village, the venue for the
handball competitions had a 53mx32m
competition area in the hall, and a
combined floor space of 11,554 square
meters; the seating capacity was
5,145. The Olympic Gymnastics Hall,
site of the finals for the handball competitions,
was located in the Olympic
Park; the Gymnastics Hall installed a
67mx43m competition area and stands
capable of accommodating 14,730
spectators.
Three training sites were available for
all participating teams: the Youngdong
High School Gymnasium, the Chungshin
Girls' High School Gymnasium,
and the Hwigyung Girls' High School
Gymnasium.
The training time was limited to one
hour and 20 minutes per team from
September 4-19, and to one hour per
team during the period of competition.
Also, the Suwon Gymnasium was
open to each team once for five days
from September 13, as a training site.
It was the policy of the SLOOC to
secure equipment that qualified for
international accrediting from foreign
manufacturers under licensing
arrangements; 450 Adidas balls were
acquired under the licensing arrangement,
and eight sets of nets were
secured from Japan's Asics.
Two sets of floor surface 22m x44m
each were secured from Bat-Taraflex of
France under a licensing arrangement.
Local products with international
accrediting, such as back nets, whistles
and ball holders, were also
obtained.
11.11.2
Conduct of the Competitions
—————————————–
Twelve men's teams qualified to compete
in the Olympic handball competitions
in the following manner: Korea as
host; teams that placed 1-6 in the A
world championship held in 1987
Rankings by NOC
Ranking Men
1 U.S.S.R.
2 Korea
3 Yugoslavia
4 Hungary
5 Sweden
6 Czechoslovakia
7 Federal Rep. of Germany
8 Iceland
9 Spain
10 Algeria
11 Japan
12 U.S.A.
(Yugoslavia, the Hungary, German
Democratic Republic, Sweden, Spain,
and Iceland); first and second place
teams in the B world championship in
1987 ( the U.S.S.R. and Czechoslovakia);
the winner of the continental
qualification games in Asia (Japan);
and the winner in the continental
qualification games in Pan-America
(U.S.A.); the winner of the continental
qualification games in Africa (Algeria).
Eight women's teams qualified: host
Korea; teams that placed 1-3 in the A
world championship held in 1987
(U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, and Norway);
the first place team in the B world
championships, 1987 (Yugoslavia); the
winner of the continental qualification
tournament in Asia (the People's
Republic of the China); the winner of
continental qualification tournament in
Pan-America (the U.S.A.), and the
winner of the continental qualification
tournament in Africa (Ivory Coast).
The 12 men's teams were placed into
two groups, A and B, with six teams
each for the preliminary round. Within
each group, the six teams played
against each other in a single roundrobin
fashion, and teams with equal
records played six matches for classification
and advancement to the finals.
The eight women's teams played 12
matches in a procedure similar to that
of the men's teams. The first two
teams (first and second place teams)
and the next two teams (third and
fourth places in each group, were
placed into 2 separate groups of four
teams each to play eight matches in
each group; these decided the first
through fourth places in the first
group, and the fifth through the eighth
places in the second group.
The IHF commissioned 58 technical
members including two technical
delegates to supervise overall conduct
of the competition.
The men's team competitions were
held at the Suwon Gymnasium for five
days, with six matches per day, played
in two sessions. Matches for the fifth
through the 12th places were played in
one session per day, for a total of four
matches. The matches to decide the
first through the fourth places, and the
two matches for the finals, were held
at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall on
October 1.
Women
Korea
Norway
U.S.S.R.
Yugoslavia
Czechoslovakia
People's Rep. of China
U.S.A.
Ivory Coast