Thierry Omeyer (born 2 November 1976) 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 ...

goalkeeper. A member of the French national team since 1999, he has won all major titles with the team: world champion (five times), European champion (three times) and Olympic champion twice. He is widely considered to be one of the best handball goalkeepers of all time, and was the third goalkeeper so far to have been elected best player of the world by the

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(the two others being Henning Fritz, in 2004, and Árpád Sterbik, in 2005, since Niklas Landin in 2021), what he achieved in 2008. In his former club ( THW Kiel), his nickname was ''Die Mauer'' (The Wall). He was included in the European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023.

Club career

Omeyer started handball at the age of 9 in Cernay (

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

). In 1994, he joined his first professional club, Sélestat. His save percentage being up to 50%, he caught the attention of the best club in the French championship,

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. Quickly becoming the first choice goalkeeper, he won five championships (from 2002 to 2006) and five national cups (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006). The biggest highlight of his time there is the win of the 2003

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 ...

, a title that had never been won by a French club before. In 2006, he decided to leave for a more competitive championship and joined the German club THW Kiel, with whom he won the double, the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

and the national cup in 2007 and 2008, plus the Champions League in 2007, 2010 and 2012. On 15 April 2014, Paris Saint-Germain announced that both Thierry Omeyer and William Accambray were leaving Montpellier in order to join their club next season. Omeyer played his last professional match on 6 June 2019 against Cesson-Rennes, PSG, who had already secured the title, defeated Cesson-Rennes 29-20, which ensured the latter's relegation.

International career

He made his debut for the French national team on September 19, 1999 against

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.ff-handball.org: France national team
In 2001, he became World champion after beating

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28-25 (after two extra-times) in the final. In 2008, he became Olympic champion after an excellent tournament where he was voted best goalkeeper with a rate of 41% shots saved all over the competition. In the final, he saved 19 shots out of 39 to ensure France' 28-23 win over

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. In 2015, he became World champion after beating

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25-22. He was voted best goalkeeper and the MVP of the tournament.

Individual awards

*Most Valuable Player ( MVP) of the World Championship:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

*All-Star Goalkeeper of the World Championship:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

*All-Star Goalkeeper of the European Championship: 2006 * IHF World Player of the Year: 2008 * EHF Hall of Fame: 2023

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omeyer, Thierry 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Mulhouse French male handball players 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 French twins Montpellier Handball players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite European champions for France French expatriate handball players in Germany THW Kiel players Handball-Bundesliga players 21st-century French sportsmen Paris Saint-Germain Handball players Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games