As announced the day before by the Danish television channel TV2, Mikkel Hansen made the end of his career official on Wednesday. At 36, he will hang up this summer after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11). “ It’s a good time to put my shoes away, as long as I stay fully engaged in what I’m doing “, declared the Danish player during a press conference.
Triple world champion
Hansen, left back, will go down as one of the greatest handball players of all time. With the selection of Denmark, he is Olympic (in 2016), world (2019, 2021 and 2023) and European (2012) champion. Mikkel Hansen has also been awarded three World Player of the Year titles, in 2011, 2015 and 2018.
At club level, he mainly wore the colors of PSG from 2012 to 2022, winning the French Championship nine times. Previously, Hansen had visited Barcelona and Copenhagen. After his stay in Paris, he returned to his country, to Aalborg. The only thing missing from his rich record is the Champions League (two finals lost, with Barça in 2010 and PSG in 2017).
“I prefer to stop before time”
“ My motivation is still thereadded the Danish player, with tears in his eyes. The season is not over and there is still a lot to play for. (…) I’m looking forward to the next few months, I’ll try to enjoy them as much as possible. (…) If I really wanted to, I could probably play until I was 40-45. But it’s not me. I’d rather stop early than stop a little too late. »
Since his return to Denmark, Mikkel Hansen has not been spared from health problems. A year ago, he stopped for stress-related reasons. He currently has groin problems that kept him off the field for the entire month of March.