Handball first made it onto the Olympic Games agenda at the 1936 event in Berlin, Germany; at that stage it was played outdoors on a large pitch and involved 11 men on a team. By the Munich Games in 1972, it had evolved to become a game played by teams of seven people and indoors instead of outside. In 1976 in Montreal, a women's tournament was also added to the programme.

The 2012 handball events will be taking place at the Olympic Park Handball Arena in Stratford, East London, where 6,000 to 7,000 spectators will be accommodated. The handball teams will be competing for the honour of winning the two gold medals available for this event.