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Mikkel Hansen in familiar style as army leader for Denmark’s national handball team. The picture is from the Olympic qualification in 2016. -
Mikkel Hansen gives Norway’s superstar Sander Sagosen a hug after an EC match earlier this year.
Mikkel Hansen in familiar style as army leader for Denmark’s national handball team. The picture is from the Olympic qualification in 2016. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB
Mikkel Hansen gives Norway’s superstar Sander Sagosen a hug after an EC match earlier this year. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
Dane Mikkel Hansen (36) confirms that he is in his last season.
Wednesday 3 April at 12:57 p.m
Hansen made the information at a press conference organized by the club team Aalborg on Wednesday afternoon. He marks the end of his career with the national team at the Olympics in Paris this summer.
– I would very much like to go to the Olympics in Paris, said Hansen, who was clearly impressed during Wednesday’s session.
– It will mean a lot to end my career with the Olympics in my second hometown, said Hansen.
Hansen is currently injured, and it is not entirely clear whether he will be ready for the playoffs in Danish handball. Aalborg starts against Ribe-Esbjerg this weekend.
In the last two years, injuries and stress symptoms have characterized Hansen’s career. As a result, the question of when he should retire has come up more and more frequently.
During the EC in January, Hansen opened up about his mental problems, which ended with him asking for help in February last year – and taking a seven-month break.
– I don’t think there was any reason to wrap it up and hide it away. I could just as well be honest about it, Hansen told VG.
The 36-year-old returned home to Denmark and Aalborg in the summer of 2022 after ten years as a professional at Paris Saint-Germain. In the French capital, he became one of the world’s best handball players, and he wreaked havoc for both club and national teams for a number of years.
The ring ends, however, when he returns to his old hometown and will try to shoot the Danes to Olympic gold in Paris. Denmark and Hansen won the Olympics in 2016 and took silver in Tokyo three years ago.
