In the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark’s men’s handball national team added another historic chapter by winning BT Guld, one of Denmark’s oldest and most prestigious sports awards, created in 1930, on top of being named Team of the Year by the Denmark National Olympic Committee and Team Denmark. 

The entire Denmark squad was present on stage in the Jyske Bank Boxen to receive the honours, almost a year after securing an unprecedented fourth consecutive IHF Men’s World Championship title, after the ones in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The dominance behind that triumph was extraordinary: Denmark won all nine matches on the way to gold with an average winning margin of 12.5 goals and trailed for only three minutes and four seconds in more than nine hours of handball – extending their unbeaten run at the IHF Men’s World Championship to 37 matches, with 35 wins and two draws.

Captain Magnus Saugstrup underlined that the recognition belongs to the whole Danish handball community. According to the official website of the Denmark Handball Federation, the line player highlighted the “team of volunteer enthusiasts” – coaches, club leaders, referees and countless others - who support more than 5,000 handball teams every week across the country and helped shape the world champions from their very first matches. In his words, the award is for “all of Handball Denmark”.

The coach of the Denmark men’s national team, Nikolaj Jacobsen, added: “It's a huge honour for me - and especially for my boys, who have done fantastically and played some excellent handball. Now it's not because you don't also have an understanding of things, but it's clear that it gives something extra when it's athletes who vote.”

Denmark’s national team was voted by the other Denmark athletes eligible to participate in the vote for awarding the BT Guld award ahead of the 2023 and 2024 IHF Male Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, and cyclist Jonas Vingegaard, who finished second in the Tour de France and won the Vuelta a Espana.

 

Gidsel also takes the plaudits

While Gidsel conceded the BT Guld award, but was named the Sports Name of the Year – winning the prestigious Årets Sportsnavn, awarded jointly by the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark.

It marks a historic first: while handball teams have won the prize several times before through the national teams, Gidsel is the first individual handball player ever to take the title. Previously, the men’s national team were honoured as Sports Name of the Year in 2023 and 2008, while the women’s national team received the award in 2000, 1994 and 1993, underlining handball’s long-standing impact on Danish sport.

Gidsel had a fantastic year, being the top scorer and the MVP of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, as well as a champion in Germany with his club, Füchse Berlin.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for winning the award. It is the absolute greatest recognition and honor I have received in my short career and among so many amazing athletes. I allow myself to be quite proud of myself,” said Gidsel, who was also named the 2023 and 2024 IHF Male Player of the Year.

The Sports Name of the Year is decided by an eight-member jury that includes HM the King Frederik X, Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Michael Laudrup, Camilla Martin, DIF chairman Hans Natorp and Team Denmark chairman Lars Krarup. In 2025, Gidsel emerged ahead of two high-profile cycling stars, Jonas Vingegaard and Mads Pedersen, who were the other finalists.

Photo credit: DIF / Lars Moller