Person Playing Handball Emoji
U+1F93E:handball_person:Skin tonesGender variantsAbout Person Playing Handball 🤾
Person Playing Handball () is part of the People & Body group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E3.0. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. On Discord it's . Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode. Pick a skin tone above to customize it.
Often associated with athletics, ball, catch, and 10 more keywords.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
A person leaping through the air, arm cocked back, mid-throw. 🤾 was approved in Unicode 9.0 (2016) as HANDBALL and added to Emoji 3.0. The emoji is specific to team handball (European handball), not American handball (a wall-based squash-with-hands game) and not playground handball. If you've ever been confused by this emoji, you're in good company: handball is the most geographically polarized sport in the emoji set.
In Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Norway, and most of Northern and Central Europe, handball is a serious mainstream sport. It's the second most popular team sport after football in Scandinavia. Professional leagues draw real crowds. National finals get primetime TV. Kids play handball in school the way American kids play dodgeball.
In the United States, the UK, and most of the English-speaking world, nobody knows what handball is. The US men's team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1996. Most Americans see 🤾 and read "jumping," "throwing something," "volleyball-ish," or just "generic sports energy." That misread ended up giving the emoji a second life as a general athletic-action reaction.
🤾 splits cleanly along geography. In Denmark, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, and Croatia, the emoji shows up during club matches, World Championships, and Olympic cycles. Paris 2024 saw Denmark's men win gold with a dominant 39-26 final over Germany, and Norway's women beat France 29-21 for gold. Handball was invented in Denmark in 1898 and remains a national cultural staple. Over 400,000 spectators attended handball at Paris 2024, and the women's final set a record 26,664 fans in the arena.
The 2024 retirement of Mikkel Hansen was a cultural event. Hansen retired after Paris 2024 with three consecutive Olympic medals, going out with gold. 276 caps, 1,387 goals, three-time IHF World Player of the Year. France's Nikola Karabatic also retired in 2024 after 365 matches and 11 major titles. Both legends leaving at once was handball's Jordan-and-Kobe moment, and the emoji trended across European sports accounts all summer.
In the US and UK, most people see 🤾 during the Olympics, briefly realize the sport exists, tweet about how exciting it is, and forget about it again until the next Games. On TikTok outside Europe, the emoji doubles as a generic "action shot" reaction, often appearing under basketball dunks, volleyball spikes, or any content involving impressive throws.
In Reddit's r/handball and European sports subreddits, the emoji is a community identifier. Regular posters use it in flair, comments, and match threads the way NBA fans use 🏀.
A person playing team handball, the European sport invented in Denmark in 1898. It shows a player midair, arm back, about to throw. It's used by the handball community, spikes during Olympic cycles, and doubles as a generic 'athletic action' reaction on TikTok.
The sports & activity family
The Sports Activity Family
What it means from...
From a European crush, 🤾 probably means they play handball and want you to come watch. From a US crush, it likely means they saw handball on TV once and thought it was cool, or they're using it as generic active-lifestyle signal. Either way, sporty.
Between partners in Scandinavia or Germany, 🤾 is match-coordination shorthand. "Game Saturday 🤾," "practice tonight 🤾." Metaphorically elsewhere, "throwing myself into this project 🤾" uses the emoji's energy for any physical-sounding challenge.
Among European friends, 🤾 is league night and match plans. Everywhere else, it's a generic "impressive throw" reaction, often attached to clips of dunks, spikes, or any feat involving an airborne object.
In Danish, Norwegian, German, French, or Spanish families, 🤾 regularly appears in parent chats about kids' practice schedules, school tournaments, and match carpool coordination. Elsewhere, it's mostly active-play content.
From a European coworker: might literally be about the office handball team (a real thing in Northern Europe) or a big match. From anyone else: generic sports energy. "Threw that presentation at the client 🤾" reads as "delivered with force."
From a stranger, it's a reaction to something energetic. In European contexts, they probably play. On dating apps, it signals active lifestyle. Most English-speaking strangers don't literally mean handball.
Flirty or friendly?
🤾 is almost entirely friendly. The leaping throw reads as energetic and athletic, not romantic. The only flirty read is indirect: signaling an active lifestyle on a dating profile, which is a play more than a come-on.
- •Sport context = always friendly
- •Dating profile = lifestyle signaling
- •Generic energy use = neutral
- •Match invitation = friendly bonding
Emoji combos
Activity emoji family: Google search interest (2020-2026)
Origin story
Handball was invented in Denmark in 1898. A gym teacher named Holger Nielsen published the first set of rules for a game he called håndbold, designed to be played indoors during Nordic winters. The sport spread through Germany and Scandinavia in the early 1900s and was codified internationally by the IHF in 1946.
Field handball (an outdoor 11-a-side version) debuted at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and appeared once more in 1952 as a demonstration. The modern indoor 7-a-side game became a permanent Olympic sport in 1972 for men and 1976 for women.
The emoji was approved in Unicode 9.0 (2016) as part of the sports expansion alongside 🤸 cartwheeling, 🤽 water polo, 🤼 wrestling, 🤺 fencing, and 🤹 juggling. The design shows a player midair, arm wound back, about to release a shot. This is specific to team handball (European handball), which has caused decades of confusion with "American handball" (a wall-based squash-like game) and playground handball (a four-square variant). The three sports share nothing but the name.
In 2024, two of the sport's greatest ever players retired simultaneously: Mikkel Hansen of Denmark (three Olympic medals, three IHF World Player of the Year awards) and Nikola Karabatic of France (two Olympic golds, 365 caps). Handball's Jordan-and-Kobe moment.
Design history
- 1898Handball invented in Denmark by Holger Nielsen
- 1936Field handball debuts at Berlin Olympics↗
- 1972Indoor handball becomes permanent Olympic sport (men)
- 1976Women's handball added to Olympic program
- 2016🤾 approved in Unicode 9.0 / Emoji 3.0↗
- 2024Mikkel Hansen and Nikola Karabatic retire after Paris 2024; Denmark wins men's gold, Norway wins women's gold↗
Around the world
In Denmark, handball is a national treasure. Invented there in 1898, it's the second most popular team sport after football, played in every school. Danish handball finals pull millions of TV viewers in a country of 5.9 million people. Mikkel Hansen's retirement in 2024 was nationally mourned.
Norway punches massively above its weight. The women's team is the most successful in Olympic handball history. Indoor sports halls are packed across the country during the long winter, and handball provides social infrastructure that's deeply culturally embedded.
Germany, France, and Spain have elite professional leagues. The German Bundesliga is one of the most competitive handball leagues in the world. France's men's team dominated the 2010s behind Nikola Karabatic. Spain is consistently competitive at every level.
Croatia and Hungary produce elite teams; Montenegro and Serbia also. The sport is culturally central across the former Yugoslavia.
The United States barely knows the sport exists. The US men's team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1996. Basketball, football, and baseball absorbed all the athletic talent that might have played handball. "American handball" is a totally different wall-based sport, compounding the confusion. USA Team Handball has to literally call itself that to distinguish from the US Handball Association.
Egypt and Tunisia lead a growing African scene. Qatar hosts top international tournaments. Handball is pushing into Asia through Korea and Japan.
Yes. It's the second most popular team sport after football in Scandinavia, Germany, and across much of Central Europe. Paris 2024 handball drew over 400,000 fans, and the women's final set a record 26,664 attendance.
Basketball, football, and baseball absorbed the athletic talent. The US men's team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1996. "American handball" is a totally different wall-based sport, which compounds the confusion.
Denmark crushed Germany 39-26 in the men's final; Norway beat France 29-21 in the women's. Both Mikkel Hansen (Denmark) and Nikola Karabatic (France) retired after the Games.
Sports-activity emojis: normalized Google Trends 2020-2026
Often confused with
🤾♂️ Man Playing Handball adds ♂ via ZWJ. 🤾 is the gender-neutral base. Many platforms render them similarly.
🤾♂️ Man Playing Handball adds ♂ via ZWJ. 🤾 is the gender-neutral base. Many platforms render them similarly.
🏐 is a volleyball. 🤾 is a person playing team handball. They look similar at a glance because both involve airborne balls, but the sports are different.
🏐 is a volleyball. 🤾 is a person playing team handball. They look similar at a glance because both involve airborne balls, but the sports are different.
🏀 is basketball. 🤾 is team handball, often compared to basketball because of the bounce-pass-shoot flow, but with a smaller ball, a net, and a goalkeeper.
🏀 is basketball. 🤾 is team handball, often compared to basketball because of the bounce-pass-shoot flow, but with a smaller ball, a net, and a goalkeeper.
Team handball (what 🤾 shows) is a 7-a-side indoor Olympic sport invented in Denmark. American handball is a wall-and-ball sport played with the hands, closer to squash. Playground handball is a four-square variant. All three share the name but share nothing else.
Do's and don'ts
- ✗Don't confuse team handball with American wall-handball or playground handball
- ✗Don't assume Americans will recognize the sport outside Olympic windows
- ✗Don't use for volleyball, basketball, or dodgeball specifically when dedicated emojis exist
In Europe, it usually means team handball. Everywhere else, it's commonly used as a generic 'athletic action' or 'impressive throw' reaction, paired with dunks, spikes, or dramatic physical feats.
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Fun facts
- •Handball was invented in Denmark in 1898 by gym teacher Holger Nielsen, and remains Denmark's second most popular team sport.
- •Indoor handball became a permanent Olympic sport in 1972 for men and 1976 for women. Field (outdoor) handball had earlier appeared at Berlin 1936.
- •The Paris 2024 women's handball final set a new Olympic attendance record of 26,664 fans. Total tournament attendance topped 400,000.
- •Denmark crushed Germany 39-26 in the men's final at Paris 2024. Norway beat France 29-21 for the women's gold.
- •Two greats retired at once after Paris 2024: Mikkel Hansen and Nikola Karabatic.
- •The US men's handball team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1996.
Common misinterpretations
- •Most Americans see 🤾 and think it means generic athletic action, not specifically team handball. That reading isn't wrong on TikTok, but it's wrong in match contexts.
- •"American handball" is a wall-based squash-like game played with the hands. Playground handball is a four-square variant. Team handball (what the emoji depicts) is completely different from both.
- •The emoji isn't volleyball, basketball, or dodgeball, even though the airborne throw looks generic. Those sports have their own emojis.
In pop culture
- •Mikkel Hansen's 2024 Paris send-off: widely considered possibly the greatest handball player ever, retiring with three consecutive Olympic medals and three IHF World Player of the Year awards.
- •The Boston Globe's classic "Americans forget handball exists" piece from Rio 2016 captured the quadrennial cycle of American surprise at a sport Europeans treat as basic.
- •Denmark's origin story: the sport was invented by a gym teacher named Holger Nielsen in 1898 and has been Denmark's second sport ever since.
- •The "handball is basketball meets soccer" explainer that Americans have been refreshing to each other every four years since the sport entered the Olympics in 1972.
Trivia
For developers
- •Base codepoint: U+1F93E. Skin tone modifiers supported (U+1F3FB to U+1F3FF).
- •Gender variants: U+1F93E + U+200D + U+2642/U+2640 + U+FE0F. 4 codepoints for 1 glyph.
- •Slack shortcode: or . Discord: .
- •Part of the Emoji 3.0 (2016) sports expansion alongside 🤸 🤹 🤼 🤽 🤺. Usage spikes during Olympic summers; dormant otherwise in English-speaking markets.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
When do you use 🤾?
Select all that apply
- Person Playing Handball (emojipedia.org)
- A short history of handball in the Nordic countries (all-things-nordic.com)
- Handball at the Summer Olympics (wikipedia.org)
- Paris 2024 Handball Results (olympics.com)
- Norway wins Paris 2024 women's handball gold (olympics.com)
- Mikkel Hansen retirement announcement (olympics.com)
- Paris 2024 handball attendance record (ihf.info)
- Why the US stinks at Olympic handball (sports.yahoo.com)
- Americans forget handball exists (bostonglobe.com)
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