Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics will have a men's and a women's team competitions with the preliminary rounds taking place in the Sports Pavilion at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex. From the quarter final stage onwards the womens event will move to the Indoor Arena of the Helliniko Olympic Complex with the men joining them there for their semi-finals and final.
The men's Handball event first made an appearance, played outside, at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany but did not then re-appear until the Games returned to Germany for the Munich Olympics in 1972 since when it has been ever present. The women's game debuted in Montreal, Canada at the 1976 Summer Olympics and again has been ever present since.
The men's event will involve twelve teams split equally into two groups.
Group A: Croatia, South Korea, Iceland, Russia, Slovenia, and Spain
Group B: Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, and Hungary
The women's event will involve ten teams split in two groups:
Group A: Brazil, China, Greece, Hungary and Ukraine
Group B: Angola, Denmark, France, South Korea, Spain
When all teams within a group have played each other in both men's and women's competitions the top four from each group will progress into their respective quarter finals.
Handball medal table by country
| Position | Country: | Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: | Total: |
Men's Team event
| Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
| Croatia |
Germany |
... |
Men's Group A
| Team | P: | W: | L: | D: | F: | A: | Pts: |
| File:Croatia flag large.png Croatia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 129 | 10 |
| File:Spain flag large.png Spain | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 154 | 137 | 8 |
| File:South korea flag large.png South Korea | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 148 | 148 | 4 |
| File:Russia flag large.png Russia | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 145 | 145 | 4 |
| File:Iceland flag large.png Iceland | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 143 | 158 | 2 |
| File:Slovenia flag large.png Slovenia | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 130 | 149 | 2 |
| August 14 | 09:30 | Spain | 31 | - | 30 | South Korea |
| August 14 | 14:30 | Russia | 28 | - | 25 | Slovenia |
| August 14 | 19:30 | Croatia | 34 | - | 30 | Iceland |
| August 16 | 09:30 | South Korea | 35 | - | 32 | Russia |
| August 16 | 11:30 | Croatia | 27 | - | 26 | Slovenia |
| August 16 | 14:30 | Spain | 31 | - | 23 | Iceland |
| August 18 | 09:30 | Croatia | 29 | - | 26 | South Korea |
| August 18 | 11:30 | Iceland | 30 | - | 25 | Slovenia |
| August 18 | 19:30 | Spain | 29 | - | 26 | Russia |
| August 20 | 09:30 | South Korea | 34 | - | 30 | Iceland |
| August 20 | 11:30 | Spain | 41 | - | 28 | Slovenia |
| August 20 | 19:30 | Croatia | 26 | - | 25 | Russia |
| August 22 | 09:30 | Slovenia | 26 | - | 23 | South Korea |
| August 22 | 11:30 | Croatia | 30 | - | 22 | Spain |
| August 22 | 19:30 | Russia | 34 | - | 30 | Iceland |
Men's Group B
| Team | P: | W: | L: | D: | F: | A: | Pts: |
 France
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 108 | 10 |
| File:Hungary flag large.png Hungary | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 132 | 124 | 8 |
| File:Germany flag large.png Germany | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 139 | 110 | 6 |
| File:Greece flag large.png Greece | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 117 | 130 | 4 |
| File:Brazil flag large.png Brazil | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 105 | 133 | 2 |
| File:Egypt flag large.png Egypt | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 110 | 133 | 0 |
| August 14 | 11:30 | Hungary | 33 | - | 28 | Egypt |
| August 14 | 16:30 | Germany | 28 | - | 18 | Greece |
| August 14 | 21:30 | France | 31 | - | 17 | Brazil |
| August 16 | 16:30 | France | 29 | - | 25 | Greece |
| August 16 | 19:30 | Hungary | 20 | - | 19 | Brazil |
| August 16 | 21:30 | Egypt | 14 | - | 26 | Germany |
| August 18 | 14:30 | France | 26 | - | 23 | Hungary |
| August 18 | 16:30 | Greece | 26 | - | 25 | Egypt |
| August 18 | 21:30 | Germany | 34 | - | 21 | Brazil |
| August 20 | 14:30 | Greece | 26 | - | 22 | Brazil |
| August 20 | 16:30 | Hungary | 30 | - | 29 | Germany |
| August 20 | 21:30 | France | 22 | - | 21 | Egypt |
| August 22 | 14:30 | France | 27 | - | 22 | Germany |
| August 22 | 16:30 | Hungary | 26 | - | 22 | Greece |
| August 22 | 21:30 | Brazil | 26 | - | 22 | Egypt |
Men's 11th/12th place play off
| August 24 | 07:30 | Slovenia | 30 | - | 24 | Egypt |
Men's 9th/10th place play off
| August 24 | 09:30 | Brazil | 25 | - | 29 | Iceland |
Men's Quarter Finals
| August 24 | 14:30 | Croatia | 33 | - | 27 | Greece |
| August 24 | 17:30 | Germany | 32 | - | 30 | Spain |
| August 24 | 12:30 | South Korea | 25 | - | 30 | Hungary |
| August 24 | 19:30 | France | 24 | - | 26 | Russia |
Men's 5th/8th classification
| August 27 | 07:30 | Greece | 29 | - | 24 | South Korea |
| August 27 | 09:30 | Spain | 27 | - | 29 | France |
Men's semi finals
| August 27 | 12:30 | Croatia | 33 | - | 31 | Hungary |
| August 27 | 14:30 | Germany | 21 | - | 15 | Russia |
Men's 7th/8th place play off
| August 28 | 12:30 | - |
Men's 5th/6th place play off
| August 28 | 17:30 | - |
Men's 3rd/4th place play off
| August 28 | 19:30 | Hungary | - | Russia |
Men's Final
| August 29 | 14:45 | Croatia | 26 | - | 24 | Germany |
Women's Team event
| Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
Women's Group A
| Team | P: | W: | L: | D: | F: | A: | Pts: |
| File:Ukraine flag large.png Ukraine | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 82 | 8 |
| File:Hungary flag large.png Hungary | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 118 | 93 | 6 |
| File:China flag large.png China | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 106 | 90 | 4 |
| File:Brazil flag large.png Brazil | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 97 | 105 | 2 |
| File:Greece flag large.png Greece | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 124 | 0 |
Group A Results
| August 15 | 14:30 | China | 24 | - | 28 | Hungary |
| August 15 | 16:30 | Greece | 21 | - | 29 | Brazil |
| August 17 | 14:30 | Ukraine | 26 | - | 21 | China |
| August 17 | 16:30 | Hungary | 33 | - | 20 | Greece |
| August 19 | 16:30 | Greece | 13 | - | 33 | China |
| August 19 | 19:30 | Brazil | 19 | - | 21 | Ukraine |
| August 21 | 16:30 | Ukraine | 29 | - | 20 | Greece |
| August 21 | 21:30 | Brazil | 26 | - | 35 | Hungary |
| August 23 | 16:30 | China | 28 | - | 23 | Brazil |
| August 23 | 19:30 | Hungary | 22 | - | 23 | Ukraine |
Women's Group B
| Team | P: | W: | L: | D: | F: | A: | Pts: |
| File:South korea flag large.png South Korea | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 135 | 103 | 7 |
| File:Denmark flag large.png Denmark | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 125 | 98 | 7 |
| France
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 105 | 106 | 4 |
| File:Spain flag large.png Spain | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 86 | 110 | 1 |
| File:Angola flag large.png Angola | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 97 | 131 | 1 |
Group B Results
| August 15 | 19:30 | Spain | 24 | - | 24 | Angola |
| August 15 | 21:30 | Denmark | 35 | - | 26 | France |
| August 17 | 19:30 | South Korea | 29 | - | 29 | Denmark |
| August 17 | 21:30 | France | 27 | - | 20 | Spain |
| August 19 | 14:30 | Angola | 30 | - | 40 | South Korea |
| August 19 | 21:30 | Spain | 21 | - | 23 | Denmark |
| August 21 | 14:30 | Angola | 21 | - | 29 | France |
| August 21 | 19:30 | South Korea | 36 | - | 21 | Spain |
| August 23 | 14:30 | France | 23 | - | 30 | South Korea |
| August 23 | 21:30 | Denmark | 38 | - | 22 | Angola |
Women's 9th/10th place play off
| August 26 | 10:30 | Greece | 23 | - | 38 | Angola |
Women's Quarter Finals
| August 26 | 12:30 | Ukraine | 25 | - | 23 | Spain |
| August 26 | 14:30 | France | 25 | - | 23 | Hungary |
| August 26 | 19:30 | China | 28 | - | 32 | Denmark |
| August 26 | 17:30 | South Korea | 26 | - | 24 | Brazil |
Women's Semi Finals
| August 27 | 19:30 | Ukraine | 20 | - | 29 | Denmark |
| August 27 | 17:30 | France | 31 | - | 32 | South Korea |
Women's 5th/8th classification
| August 28 | 07:30 | Spain | 27 | - | 23 | China |
| August 28 | 09:30 | Hungary | 36 | - | 31 | Brazil |
Women's 3rd/4th place play off
| August 28 | 14:30 | - |
Women's 7th/8th place play off
| August 29 | 06:30 | - |
Women's 5th/6th place play off
| August 27 | 12:30 | - |
Women's Final
| August 29 | 08:45 | - |