Renars Uscins is a key player in the DHB team at the European Handball Championships. What bothers the 23-year-old about Instagram and TikTok – and how the family literally keeps him down.
Renars Uscins’ star really rose at the Summer Olympics. The left-hander in the right backfield led Germany to a sensational silver medal in the summer of 2024. Unforgettable: his exceptional performance in the quarter-finals against France, in which he was completely free and was the match winner with 14 goals and the equalizer in the last second of regular time.
It was the idea of a carefree player who had just turned 22 years old and who, it seemed that day, couldn’t make a wrong decision. Uscins was elected to the All-Star team and only the two Danish superstars Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick scored more goals from the field in the world’s largest sports tournament than the Latvian-born German national player.
World Cup 2025 – a lot of pressure and still ailing
Only about six months later, Renars Uscins’ emotional world looked completely different in the DHB jersey. At the 2025 World Cup he was again the top German goalscorer, but after a strong preliminary round, Uscins seemed exhausted in the tournament and in the quarter-finals against Portugal it was over for the German team.
Renars Uscins disappointed after World Cup exit
Uscins dragged himself through the tournament in ailing state – for a player who is “only” 1.90 meters tall and plays in the half position and therefore has to be in top athletic form, this of course has an influence. But it may not have been just the injury that caused the few percentage points of drop in performance that are crucial at this level.
“Suddenly you’re the beacon of hope for an entire nation. That’s a completely different role that Renars had to take on all of a sudden, it takes a physical toll because it’s also so mentally draining,” explains veteran goalkeeper Andreas Wolff in the new one ARD documentary “Generation Goldjungs”. And Wolff should know, he also came into the German box at a big tournament like “Kai aus der Kiste” and made the DHB team European champions in 2016 at the age of 24.
Uscins shuts down in Latvia
In preparation for the upcoming European Championships in 2026, national coach Alfred Gislason also repeatedly emphasizes that the pressure on Uscins has now become too great given his extraordinary performance at the Olympics.
But Uscins, who is considered by almost all companions “reflected” and “pensive” Despite his young age, he has already drawn conclusions and developed mechanisms that give his body and mind the necessary breaks in the hustle and bustle of competitive sports. The documentary “Generation Goldenjungs” accompanies him to his grandmother’s farm in Latvia: Here the handball player mows the lawn in 2024, brings the wood into the house, switches off.
Café in Dessau, business studies and social media “crap”
In Dessau, where father Armands played handball in the 2nd league and three-year-old Renars lived with his siblings and mother from 2006, he opened a café that is run by his mother. It says 1023 – his shirt numbers and lucky numbers. In addition to professional handball, Uscins is also studying business administration at TSV Hannover-Burgdorf.
Uscins has an eye for what lies beyond the hall: “In this day and age of Instagram, TikTok, all of that, I’ll say ‘crap’, people think that they are better. Because they maybe have more clicks, score more goals. It really pisses me off when I see people like that. Because I may have taken the path myself that I say: I have to work hard for things. I want to stay on the ground. I want to show that I can do more than just play handball.”
Christian Prokop promotes and develops Uscins
Hard work was also the way to the Bundesliga. He never found his way into the SCM first team through the Magdeburg sports boarding school. He went to Hanover via the Magdeburg 2nd team to coach Christian Prokop. He recognized the strengths and weaknesses of Uscin as a player and person quite quickly and became his sponsor.
Hannover-Burgdorf coach Christian Prokop (l) with national player Renars Uscins
“He also makes sure that you are doing well as a person. Makes sure that he can help you with that. He doesn’t just question bad phases in terms of handball, which is something I don’t know from other coaches.”Uscins describes the relationship with Prokop. In Hanover, Uscins becomes a national player, a top performer and the leader of a generation of “young savages”. Just like in the national team.
Hannover with a difficult season – Prokop dismissed
This season there is a problem with Hannover – at the European Championship break the “Recken” are only in ninth place. After the 26:26 against GWD Minden on December 27th, in which Uscins had a bad day with zero hits in five attempts, the board pulled the ripcord – the coaching change from Prokop to Juan Carlos Pastor, which had already been confirmed at the end of the season, will take place immediately. Uscins can’t really concern himself with the departure of his sponsor at the moment, the focus is on the national team, which of course should win a medal at the European Championships.
This may not require the “Olympic Uscins”, but definitely a Uscins in good physical and mental shape. Even if none of the current national players in the DHB jersey have a better goal rate than him, the team has enough high-class and talented alternatives in the backcourt that can relieve him of the task of scoring goals. At Hannover, Uscins wanted and had to force it a little too often this season, and his shooting rate fell to 48 percent. He still gave plenty of assists – they are now almost as important a part of his game, as the national coach recently emphasized.
Hallmarks: punch throwing and traction
And if Uscins doesn’t feel like he has to take questionable throws, he might still have the strength to show such exceptional performances as he did against France, when he decided the game in overtime with his typical seamless, surprising throw.
“I always got hit in the face when I didn’t throw punches as a backcourt player,” In “Generation Goldjungs” Uscins describes conversations with his father, who was also his coach at times when he was young. In contrast to the jump throw, with the punch throw you maintain traction with your foot when completing the shot. Something that Renars Uscins also masters perfectly off the field.