Handball: Olympic champion Mikkel Hansen to retire after Paris 2024
Danish handball legend Mikkel Hansen has announced he is playing his last season at the highest level.
Hansen held a press conference on Wednesday 3 April to announce that he'll be retiring from the sport after the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“For almost 20 years now, I have been so privileged to make a living from the sport I love. I have represented some of the biggest clubs in the world. I have always said that I wanted to stop on the day that the play, the joy and the dedication were no longer there. It still is. But I also think I've come to a place where I can feel that there are other things that draw me. Therefore, I feel that this summer is the perfect time to end my playing career,” he said, as reported by the IHF.
As a result, the Olympic Games Paris 2024 could be the last competition in the career of the 36-year-old, who spent 10 years at PSG before moving back to his homeland to play for Aalborg Håndbold.
The nine-time French league champion will retire at the end of the season, but his legacy will last forever. He has won everything his sport has to offer except the EHF Champions League. The left-back played in the last two Olympic gold medal matches, winning against France at Rio 2016 and losing to the same team at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
Hansen has not only shone on the Olympic stage. He also wrote history with Denmark at the World Championships, achieving the first-ever three-peat in this tournament. When winning the world title in 2019, 2021 and 2023, Denmark stayed undefeated during a history-making 30-game streak. His performances helped him become the best scorer in the history of the competition with 356 goals.
He has the same title in the European Championships, a competition he won in 2012, with 296 goals.
Hansen has also been awarded IHF World Player of the Year three times (2011, 2015 and 2018), which is a testament to the impact he has had on handball.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank a lot of people, not least my family. But certainly also coaches, fellow players, physiotherapists, physical trainers, team managers, agents and all the others who help shape a player,” he concluded.
“I have been extremely lucky to have met a lot of people who have wanted the best for me.”
Mikkel Hansen's main achievements
- Gold medal at the Olympic Games Rio 2016
- Silver medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
- World Champion in 2019, 2021 and 2023
- World Championship finalist in 2011 and 2013
- European Champion in 2012
- European Championship finalist in 2014 and 2024
- Bronze medal at the European Championship in 2022
- IHF World Player of the Year in 2011, 2015 and 2018
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