[Editor’s Note: As part of Uni Watch’s continuing Olympics coverage, today we have a second guest entry from Aidan Hofstedt, who is taking a deep dive into the uniforms for the Games’ Women’s Handball Uniforms. Aidan covered the Men’s Handball uniforms here. Enjoy! — PH]
Women’s Handball Uniforms for the 2024 Paris Olympics
by Aidan Hofstedt
Women’s handball became an Olympic sport in 1976, four years after it was permanently introduced as a men’s sport. Like many team sports that did not originate in the US, a uniform is called a “kit.” Shirts have a team logo over the heart and a manufacturer logo on the other side of the chest, with a small number on the front and a large number on the back. In contrast with the growing trend giving women’s soccer teams their own bespoke kit designs, most women’s teams use the same design as the men’s team. However, there are a couple notable exceptions.
In non-Olympic competition, kits are plastered with ads. However, due to Olympic sponsorship regulations, there are (thankfully) no ads present at the Games.
Group A
Denmark
The Danes, who won 3 straight gold medals from 1996-2004, are outfitted by Puma. Their home kit features a red shirt with a sublimated cross pattern evoking the Nordic cross on the Danish flag. The shirt has white numbers and is coupled with white shorts. Denmark wears the reverse on the road, with a red-numbered white shirt (and the same cross pattern) over red shorts.
Germany
Germany, playing in their first Olympics since 2008, also wears Puma kits. The primary kit is all-white with pinstripes on the shirt. The pinstripes are a gradient from yellow on the player’s left to red on the right, taking the colors from the German flag. A horizontal white bolt interrupts the pinstripes. A black collar and sleeve cuffs complete the look alongside black numbers. As many commenters noted during the men’s article, the German NOBs are MASSIVE. The away kit features the same pinstriped pattern (including jersey-colored bolts) on a black background, making the colors easier to see. The collar stays black, but the sleeve cuffs are red. White numbers and black shorts round out the kit.
Norway
Medalists in all but one of their Olympic appearances, Norway wears kits made by Hummel. Despite the men being a primarily red team, the women wear a navy blue home kit with red side panels. The kit has white numbers and is paired with navy shorts. However, they wear the same change kit as the men: white with red numbers and side panels, paired with the same blue shorts as the home.
Slovenia
Slovenia, making their Olympic debut, is outfitted by Joma. Their typical home kit is royal blue with bright green side panels and a mountain design on the hem. (As touched on in the men’s preview, the mountain is Mount Triglav, Slovenia’s main national symbol.) White numbers and blue shorts complete the kit. The Slovenes’ change kit is white with blue sleeves and the same green side panels as the primary. While the men’s team wears this kit with white shorts, the women use bright green, reflecting a growing trend away from white shorts in women’s sports in order to ease period concerns.
Sweden
The Swedes will wear kits made by Craft, a Swedish sportswear company, as they search for their first Olympic medal. Their primary kit features a yellow shirt with two-tone (royal/navy) blue diagonal stripes on either side of a front number. The stripes extend from the sleeves to the chest, creating a small yellow triangle on the end of the sleeves. The collar and sleeve cuffs are navy blue, while navy numbers and shorts complete the kit. The away kit is the same design in white, as yellow replaces navy on the stripes. That kit keeps the navy numbers and shorts. Despite its ability for more contrast, the Swedish women have not worn the navy blue kit that the men have.
South Korea
The only non-European side to win Olympic gold, Korea is outfitted by Puma. The home kit is red with a pattern of dark red and blue splotches above the chest. Numbers are black with a thin white outline to help with legibility. Shorts are black with a prominent white number, something not seen on every team’s shorts. The change kit is white with the same splotch pattern, though it is more clear that the colors are derived from the Korean flag. Numbers are solid black, and the shirt is paired with the same black shorts as the home. They also wear a third kit in the same style as the home and away. That kit is black and inexplicably has black numbers (outlined in white) despite the black shorts having white numbers.
Group B
Angola
Africa’s most successful team wears kits made by Fast Desporto, a sportswear company based in Angola. They wear a red primary kit with black sleeves and a traditional Angolan geometric pattern on the front and lower back. The kit has yellow numbers and is paired with black shorts. Also worn with black shorts is the yellow away kit, which keeps the black sleeves but makes the geometric pattern more subtle. The away kit has black numbers. The third kit, however, is a plain white shirt with red sleeve cuffs. That kit has red numbers and white shorts.
Brazil
The Americas’ lone representatives wear kits manufactured by RT Sports, a company based in Brazil. Their home kit is the country’s famous yellow with sublimated contour lines (the lines found on a topographic map). Numbers are green, and the shirt is coupled with royal blue shorts. The away kit is all-royal blue with the same topographic pattern and yellow numbers. The Brazilians also have a green third kit with yellow contour lines, making them less subtle than they are on the other two. That kit has yellow numbers and is paired with dark green shorts.
France
The hosts, defending Olympic and world champions, got new Adidas kits for the Games. The primary kit is royal blue with a thin white stripe across the front. White numbers and royal shorts round out the kit. On the road, the team wears a white kit with a royal stripe on the front. The numbers are the only navy blue on the kit, and it is worn with white shorts. The men’s team also wore a pink third kit with near-illegible numbers, but the women have not worn that kit.
Hungary
The Hungarians wear kits manufactured by Adidas. Their primary kit is plain red, lacking the side panels it has in competitions without Olympic sponsorship rules. (The panels’ main purpose was to house Adidas’ three stripes.) The kit has large white numbers and lacks any sublimated designs. Their away kit is the reverse of the home: a plain white shirt with red numbers and white shorts. The Hungarian men also have a green third kit; the women were eliminated in the quarterfinals without needing it.
Netherlands
The Netherlands, who have grown into a power in the last decade, are outfitted by Dutch manufacturer Stanno. The primary kit is the nation’s famous orange, with sleeve cuff striping in the colors of the Dutch flag (red-white-blue). The kit has white numbers and is paired with orange shorts. On the road, they wear a sky blue kit with orange numbers. The sleeve striping stays the same as it is on the home kit, but there are also short orange side panels on the bottom of the shirt. The side panels also appear on the blue shorts. Both kits also feature a subtle “swooping” design going from the right sleeve to the bottom left.
Spain
The Spaniards kits are made by Joma. The home kit is red with primarily navy blue trim, though a thin triple stripe in the colors of the Spanish flag (red-yellow-red) is found in a section of navy in the shirt’s bottom left corner. A similar area appears under the right sleeve. The shirt has yellow numbers and is combined with navy shorts.
The away kit, meanwhile, is unique to the women’s team. It has the same design as the home, but it has a black base and a pink section at the bottom to house the flag-stripe. (The black kit the men wear lacks the pink section.) It has white numbers and is worn with black shorts.
Phil here. Great rundown of these kits, Aidan! Thanks.
OK readers? What say you?
Most of these look really good!
Any idea of the topography depicted on the Brazilian shirts is a real place?
For some reason I like this Slovenia kit a lot better than the very-similar men’s kit and their volleyball kits. Maybe the photos are just at a better angle for me. Love the green shorts. I also like the sets for Spain and Angola, except the white third is meh. The rest are a little too plain or a little/lot too busy for my taste. Germany is okay, too, I guess.
I’ve been following both the men’s and women’s handball competition and rooting for Denmark. I find the uniforms quite good on the whole but wonder about Germany’s choice to wear black and white in most sports, not just handball, when they have such great colors in their flag.
My favorite women’s handball uniforms are Sweden’s home, Slovenia’s away, and Angola’s home. Nice color choices.