Daniel Narcisse (born 16 December 1979) is a retired French

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player and French international from 2000 to 2017. He is a double

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

, quadruple

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and triple European champion, one of the most awarded French team handball players with nine international titles. He could play both centre back and left back. In 2012, with an exceptional year both in the French team ( Olympic title) and in the club ( Champions League, German championship and

German cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

), he was voted best handball player of the year 2012 by the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

. In 2023, he was included in the

European Handball Federation The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations (England and Scotland), and is headquartered in Vienna, Au ...

Hall of Fame.

Playing style

His main strength as a field player was his jumping ability, enabling him to score goals above interfering defense players. This ability earned him the nickname ''Air France''.

Career

Early career

Narcisse started playing handball at Joinville on

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, and joined Chambéry Savoie HB in 1998. Here he won French Championship and League Cup in 2001. In 2004 he joined German side

VfL Gummersbach VfL Gummersbach is a professional handball club from the German city of Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, VfL Gummersbach competes in the Handball-Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. The club has seen great success, especially from the ...

, despite being injured at the time.

Return to Chambery

In 2007 he returned to Chambéry. Gummersbach claimed that they had a unilateral right to extend the contract by one more year, and demanded 300.000 euros in transfer fee. At a court the clause was ruled invalid, and Narcisse was free to play for Chambéry Savoie HB.

THW Kiel

Narcisse joined

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

in 2009, replacing Nikola Karabatic. Here he won the 2009-10 EHF Champions League and German Championship. In the 2010-11 season he was out for a long time with a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

injury, but returned in time to win the 2011

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga championship. DHB-Pokal ...

, Super Globe and German Super Cup. In the 2011-2012 season he won the treble with Kiel; the

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

, German Champinoship and DHB-Pokal.

even managed to win the season with all wins; 68 points out of 68 available. In August 2012 he followed it up by winning the German Super Cup once again. Later that season he also won the German Championship and Cup. In 2012 he was named the

IHF World Player of the Year The IHF World Player of the Year is a handball award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season, both at club and international competitions. It is awarded based on votes from experts, media a ...

.Daniel Narcisse
nbcolympics.com

Paris Saint-Germain

In 2013 he joined Paris Handball. Here he won the French Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2018 and the French championship four times in a row from 2015 to 2018. He retired after the 2017-18 season.

National team

Narcisse is a longtime player on the

France men's national handball team The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danis ...

, and won with it all major titles: world title (in 2001, 2009, 2015 and 2017), European title (in 2006, 2010 and 2014) and Olympic gold medal (in 2008 and 2012). Narcisse was voted into the ''All star team'' at the

2008 European Men's Handball Championship The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17 to 27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark men's national handball team, Denmark won the tournament ...

,"France"
– ''European Handbal Federation (2008)'' (Retrieved on February 1, 2008) where France finished third.

References

External links

*
Daniel Narcisse
at ''

Ligue Nationale de Handball The ''Ligue Nationale de Handball'' () is a governing body established in 2004 to administer French men's professional handball autonomously from the national federation (FFHB). It has jurisdiction over the country's top two men's divisions, a cup ...

'' * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Narcisse, Daniel 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Saint-Denis, Réunion Sportsmen from Réunion French male handball players Handball players from Réunion Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for France Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic medalists in handball French expatriate handball players in Germany Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics European champions for France VfL Gummersbach players THW Kiel players Handball-Bundesliga players Paris Saint-Germain Handball players Chambéry Savoie Mont-Blanc Handball players Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games