After being named the IHF Female World Player of the Year for the third time in a row, Henny Reistad published a heartwarming Instagram post, portraying her as a young kid in a lockerroom. 

“Not sure what the girl in the first pic believed when she first started playing handball, but it was definitely not becoming the worlds best player three times in a row,” said Reistad.

And it usually, it starts like this. A lot of fun, a bond with teammates, some dreams in a suitcase. Sometimes it can go wrong. But not for Reistad, who has dominated women’s handball over the past years, earning MVP plaudits at the 2023 and 2025 editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship.

Twice a World champion, an Olympic champion and a three-time European champion. All in the space of six years, for a player who has been immense for the Norwegian juggernaut and has morphed from an emerging player to the captain of a squad which boasts all-time greats as Katrine Lunde and Nora Mørk.

“I never thought I would be in this situation. Of course, it was my dream. I remember when I was 12, I think I told my mom that I wanted to go to the Olympics in 2020, knowing that it was kind of crazy. But the ambitions have always been there. Of course, when I was 12, I didn’t know what it would take. For me, it has felt very natural to make decisions and prioritize everything so that handball was always number one. But I also feel like I’ve tried to do the right things – when it comes to playing handball, being with my friends, and not doing everything in a way that makes me lose the balance in my life. I feel like that has always been an important part of it,” says Reistad.
 

Gold, gold, gold

So Reistad thought about going to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games since 2011. Objective checked, as she was one of the 14 players in Norway’s roster which won the bronze medal. 

By the way, that was her third major international competition, after making her debut at the EHF EURO 2018. And then, it continued. Gold at the EHF EURO 2020. Gold at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship. Gold at the EHF EURO 2022. Silver at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship. And then gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the EHF EURO 2024, and the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.

Plus three IHF Female World Player of the Year awards.

“Of course, in the last few years, I have felt more pressure as expectations have grown – especially with winning and performing well. But I also feel like expectations and pressure are a privilege. In that way, I try to see it as something positive. People expect a lot because I have performed well many times. I try not to see it as a bad thing. Of course, sometimes you can feel the pressure in every game, but I try to normalise it and not focus too much on it. Instead, I focus on enjoying playing the game,” adds Reistad.

In a star-studded side, Reistad, who scored 533 goals so far in seven years for the senior national team, is still quite far away from the top-10 all time scorers for Norway. She is still halfway of Kjersti Grini’s record, with 1003 goals in 201 matches, but a few more years and she will be in touching distance.

But in the EHF Champions League Women, where she played for Vipers Kristiansand and is in her fifth season with Team Esbjerg, she has already scored 790 goals. Reistad was the top goal scorer in the past two seasons, has scored in triple digits in the past four seasons (104, 142, 107 and 154 goals) and is currently on 94 goals, with at least five matches still to play in the current one.

A true goal scoring machine.

“It helped me a lot to learn from the best. But I also feel that the culture is very humble. You can learn from the best while still focusing on what’s most important in team sports - helping each other improve and wanting others to perform well, even though there’s competition for selection. That has really helped me,” says Reistad.

 

Team culture and growth

The team culture in Norway is different than in other countries. Of course, results matter, but at the younger age categories, the focus is put directly on developing players and creating a safe environment for them to learn. It is about preparing them for their careers, rather than focusing on short-term gains.

Reistad was there in Norway’s squad at the 2018 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, when the Scandinavian side finished second, and she was selected in the All-Star team as the best centre back of the competition.

But while Norway lost that competition, conceding a 22:28 loss in the final against hosts Hungary, when Reistad scored seven goals, it also acted as a path towards a succesful career for the Norway back.

“So many things happen during the youth years. I don’t think it’s right to focus too much on medals and selection when there are so many other things that help you grow. I’m glad the focus isn’t only on winning, but also on learning how to play in a team. There’s also a lot of talent development at younger ages. It’s good to want to be selected, and it can help you become a better player and teammate. But I also don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to follow one specific path to become a good international player. It’s good that we don’t have a strict recipe that says you must follow one way to become the best,” says Reistad.

“I also saw an interview with Marit Bjørgen, an eight time Olympic champion in skiing. And she has recently talked about not putting too much pressure on kids when they are young and about finding the balance between social life and fully committing to your sport. That’s something I really believe in as well.”

Her path, though, was clear from the start. And year after year, Reistad added more and more skills to her game. She oversees the game better and can alternate between acting as a shooter – top goal scorer at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship – or as a facilitator, as she did more under that role in the final against Germany.

The connection with the line players has also gotten better, as did her understanding of the game, putting more emphasis on securing better situations for her teammates. The number of assists also improved from 24 to 28 between the last two editions of the world handball flagship competition.

And after Stine Oftedal’s retirement after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Reistad was named the captain of the Norway team aged only 25 years old.

“I feel very proud to be captain of Norway. In the beginning, it was a role I was very nervous about. It helped that I joined the team when Stine Oftedal and Camilla Herrem were captain and vice-captain, so I could learn from them before stepping up. That helped me a lot,” says Norway’s back.

“Of course, I also thought about the more experienced players who know more than me and understand the system very well. That could have stressed me, but they have been very supportive and have helped me succeed in my role. In some ways, being captain comes naturally to me, and in other ways it doesn’t – and in those moments, they have really helped me not to stress too much.”
 

Four in a row?

Prior to last year, only two players had managed to secure the IHF Female Player of the Year trophy at least two times. First, it was Hungarian back Bojana Radulovics, followed by Romanian left back Cristina Neagu, who was also the only player to have secured back-to-back trophies. 

Now, Neagu is joined by Norway back Henny Reistad, who became only the second player in history to receive the award three times after the Romanian star and the first one to clinch it in three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025).

Reistad, the reigning IHF World Player of the Year, swept the coaches’ and the CCM votes, finishing ahead of Brazil’s Bruna de Paula and teammate Katrine Lunde. She finished first in the coaches’ vote, with 52% of the votes, while ending up on the second place in the fans’ voting, behind Brazilian superstar Bruna de Paula Almeida, who received huge backing from her fans. 

Can she go four in a row?

“It’s crazy to think that it could happen. This award definitely boosts my motivation to perform even better. But playing for Esbjerg and the national team already gives me so many reasons to perform well. I’m excited to see how I can help my teams succeed – that’s the most important thing for me,” concludes Reistad.