Denmark’s world champion Mathias Gidsel prevailed against the German national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff in the election as world handball player of the year and has been voted the best handball player in the continent for the second time in a row. Renars Uscins was also happy: he received the award for the best young player.
The 26-year-old exceptional cloister of Bundesliga club Füchse Berlin and the DHB keeper competed with the Spaniard Alex Dujshebaev from the Polish Club Industria Kielce for the prestigious award of the World Association IHF. Wolff had already stood for election in the previous year and lost to Gidel.
The fact that the 34 -year -old goalkeeper from the THW Kiel was once again part of the favorite group owes his performance at the Olympic Games. With his parades, Wolff played a significant part in the German Silver Coup.
Gidsel wins with a big lead
Gidsel protruded in France as a MVP and top scorer and won the choice with a big lead. “It is a great honor to receive this personal title, and I’m very proud of it”said the Berliner for election. “It is crazy to think that I won this price for two years in a row – I would never have dreamed that.”
Only services from 2024 were taken into account in the election. The fan vote contributed a third to the overall result. The remaining two thirds shared a committee and the national coaches of their teams who were represented at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
USCins – the hero of Lille
DHB international Renars won the election as the best young handball player from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. The 22-year-old prevailed against the Portuguese Francisco Costa and the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic from VfL Gummersbach.
Uscins had established itself as a guarantee of success in the German national team in 2024 and was at the Olympic Games with 52 goals in the best thrower of the DHB selection. The sporty six-second wonder of Lille is connected to his name forever.
The DHB men were almost on the bus back to Germany when Uscins saved his team in the quarter-finals against France with a last-second goal. The winning goal shortly before the final siren also managed the U21 world champion.
Henny Reitstad Best player
Olympic champion and European champion Henny Reitstad from Norway was elected to handball player of the year. Like Gidsel, she also secured the award for the second time in a row.
Reistad dominated the fan vote and won with a comfortable lead over her competitors. The Norwegian defender received more votes than the other two candidates Estelle Nze Minko and Kari Brattset Dale. Reistad was also a leader in the coaching election.