The coveted IHF World Player of the Year award return in full fledge, with four categories ready to find out their winners, after a transparent process of voting by the fans, coaches and the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods members.

2023 marked the introduction of the IHF Young Male Player of the Year and the IHF Young Female Player of the Year, which underline the penchant for identifying and nurturing new talents. 

The fans have a say in the final standings of the IHF World Player of the Year awards, but the current formula sees an equal percentage of the final decision between three categories, for a better representation and a level-playing field for all the nominees. 

The fans will still have the power, as the votes casted will represent a third of the final standings. Another third will be reserved to the coaches who led their national teams at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM) will have the final third of the decision, with the awards being sealed by the player that has the best percentage throughout the three categories.

For all categories, three players have been shortlisted by the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM), based on their performances in 2024, having impressed throughout the last year on the courts. The nominated players will be presented on a category-by-category basis.

For the 2024 IHF Young Female World Player of the Year, the nominees are France’s Lylou Borg and Léna Grandveau, as well as Hungary’s Petra Simon, all three playing on the centre back position.

Lylou Borg (France)

Borg has announced herself as one of the players to watch at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, being a key performer for France. Two years later, in 2024, she turned it up a notch, being an integrant part of France’s junior team which wrote history and secured the title at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship without dropping a match.

Only 19 years old, Borg, the MVP of the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, is the daughter of former France international Myriam Borg-Korfanty and will make her debut for the senior team this March, in a friendly match against Germany. She also signed with Metz Handball, joining the French champions in the summer of 2025.

Petra Simon (Hungary)

Simon turned 20 last November, and has not featured at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, having already made the step towards Hungary’s senior squad. What transpired last year is that the All-Star centre back of the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship has fulfilled her potential.

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she was one of the youngest players in the competition, Simon scored 16 goals until Hungary were eliminated in the quarter-finals, also helping her side to win the match against Brazil, where she was the top scorer, with a buzzer-beater. Simon was also named the Best Young Player at the EHF EURO 2024, where she secured her first medal in senior competitions, clinching the bronze with Hungary.

Léna Grandveau (France)

Grandveau is the recipient of the 2023 IHF Young Female Player of the Year award, having impressed at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship. In 2024, the centre back, who turned 22 this January, was, once again, part of the France senior national team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the EHF EURO 2024.

While at the continental competition, Grandveau and France finished third, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France had an excellent competition, until the final, which they conceded on their home court, in Lille, against Norway. Grandveau scored eight goals from 14 shots, for a 57% shooting efficiency at Paris 2024.