Before Henny Reistad was named the 2024 IHF Female Player of the Year, only two players managed to secure this trophy at least twice in their careers – Hungary’s Bojana Radulović and Romania’s Cristina Neagu.

But in only two years, Reistad confirmed her class, talent and potential, by sweeping her way into back-to-back IHF Female Player of the Year trophies in 2023 and 2024, with convincing wins each year, establishing herself as one of the best players in handball’s history.

The catch? Radulović was 30 years old when she was named the IHF Female Player of the Year for the second time, in 2003. Neagu was 28 when she got her second award in 2015. Reistad? She just turned 26 years old in February and is looking unstoppable.

“It is fantastic to win this award for the second time, it was something I did not expect, to win back-to-back trophies, but the feeling is amazing. I am honoured and humble to be named again, especially as the mechanism of the voting involves so many people, from fans, to coaches and experts,” says Reistad.

While 2023 has been an excellent year for the Norwegian star, 2024 was even better. Basically, with the Norway women’s national team, Reistad won everything, starting with the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, followed by the title at the EHF EURO 2024.

Between those two competitions, Norway have lost a single match from the 17 played, winning the other 16 in fantastic fashion, including the Olympic final against France, 29:21, and the EHF EURO final against Denmark, 31:23.

Both finals were thoroughly dominated by the Scandinavian handball machine, which dispatched two of best teams in the world by an eight-goal margin. The common denominator beside the goal difference? Well, Norway’s top scorer, Reistad, who scored eight goals in each final.

“The truth is that the year has been amazing, to be fair, we played very good and I am very happy we added more trophies for Norway. The Olympic gold was something fantastic, it was my first one and, of course, we are also the European champions,” says Reistad.

“2024 has been hectic, there have been a lot of matches. At club level, we had a very good season, winning the league and the Cup and finishing third in the Champions League. There has been little break, though, because we had the Olympics, but all in all, while challenging, 2024 has been great for me.”

But the Olympics showcased not only Reistad’s amazing talent, but also her resilience, which was proven when she got injured in a friendly match against France, weeks before Paris 2024, forcing her to miss the first two matches, the loss against Sweden and the win against Denmark.

“It has been a bit of a challenge. I always believed I could return and playing there was something fantastic. I started with less minutes and then grew match-by-match, and eventually we won the gold medal, which was incredible,” adds the 26-year-old back.

But 2024 has been more than gold medals and individual awards for Reistad, who was named the All-Star centre back at the EHF EURO 2024 and is the current top scorer in the EHF Champions League Women.

Since October, she has been also the captain of the Norway women’s national team, replacing the retired Stine Bredal Oftedal, another star, who was the MVP of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“It is a big responsibility, of course, it is something that helps me grow as a player and as a person, it is a bit different now, because I have a different role, which I have to respect and adapt to. But being the captain is also a huge honour, therefore I am enjoying it and I give my all for the team,” continues Reistad.

But what’s the secret behind Reistad’s fabulous growth over the last years, one which propelled her to stardom, enabling her to arguably become one of the best players in history?

“I think – and it may sound as a cliché – that I am focusing for each match as good as I can. Of course, for some, not as much, because you cannot treat every match like an Olympic final. With many matches in one season, you would just crumble under the pressure in the end, especially in the closing stages of a competition, which is the most important part. Therefore, you need to be professional, but also look after yourself in the end, to enable yourself to rise to the occasion when needed,” says the 2024 IHF Female Player of the Year.

That plan worked well and Reistad dominated the fan vote, a third of the final ranking in the IHF Player of the Year voting, winning by a comfortable margin ahead of her rivals, with the number of votes casted for the Norway back being bigger than the combined number for the other two candidates, Estelle Nze Minko and Kari Brattset Dale. 

Reistad was in a prime position in the coaches’ vote as well, winning it by a whopping margin, 88.2%, on her way to the second the IHF Female Player of the Year trophy.

“The numbers are certainly humbling. It is absolutely fantastic to see it and, for me, it means a lot. I am grateful to everyone, to every fan voting for me and seeing the coaches, the professionals, who observe handball every day and think about it with a strategic mind, to vote in such a big number for me, it is really fantastic,” adds Reistad.

While making her debut only six years ago, on 22 November 2018, for the senior national team, Reistad has already clinched everything there is to win in women’s handball, with the gold medal at the Olympics at Paris 2024, the World Championship title at Spain 2021 and three consecutive European titles in 2020, 2022 and 2024.

So the question is begging to be asked: What drives her on?

“I think that my mind is not focusing on winning titles. Of course, they are the goal in the end, but eventually, what I do, is focusing on each match I play. And then, if the team wins, well, we are in a position to win titles,” says Reistad.

With a complete game in the eyes of many – Reistad can score and pass, while also featuring in defence for Norway and club team Esbjerg – is there something that can be improved in her eyes?

“I think the relationship with the line player can be improved, yes. I can pass to the wing, I can really help the back players, but with the line player, I think I can do better in connecting and assisting. This is something I will work on, surely,” smiles the 2024 IHF Female Player of the Year.

At 26 years old, Reistad has already dominated the charts over the last years. If she continues her run of form, and is elected the IHF Female Player of the Year in 2025 too, she will become the first player in history to win the trophy in three consecutive years, with Cristina Neagu also winning it three times in a row, but in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

And Reistad is all up for it, as she started 2025 with some excellent matches for her club side, eyeing another medal in December, when she is Norway’s hope for another successful performance at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.