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The Most Famous

HANDBALL PLAYERS from Russia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Handball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 304 Handball Players, 29 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 4th most number of Handball Players behind Spain and Norway.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Russian Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Handball Players.

Photo of Andrey Lavrov

1. Andrey Lavrov (1962 - )

With an HPI of 47.30, Andrey Lavrov is the most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Andrey Ivanovich Lavrov (Russian: Андрей Иванович Лавров; born March 26, 1962, in Krasnodar) is a Russian (and former Soviet) handball goalkeeper and a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Lavrov is also one of only a few athletes to have won Olympic gold medals for three different teams, winning gold for the Soviet Union in 1988, the Unified Team in 1992, and for Russia in 2000. Four years later, at the age of 42, he won his fourth olympic medal, another unique feat for a handball player, when his Russian team earned third place and the bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic games. Lavrov was a long time captain for the Russian handball team, and he was Flag Bearer for the Russian athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Summer Olympics. Lavrov has also won two World Championships for Russia, in 1993 and in 1997, as well as the European Championship in 1996. In 2001, Andrey Lavrov was voted "Russian handball player of the century" in his home country.

Photo of Eduard Koksharov

2. Eduard Koksharov (1975 - )

With an HPI of 33.66, Eduard Koksharov is the 2nd most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Eduard Aleksandrovich Koksharov (Russian: Эдуард Александрович Кокшаров, born 4 November 1975) is a Russian handball player and coach of the HC Meshkov Brest. He played as a left winger. He retired from his national team in 2012. He came to Celje from SKIF Krasnodar in the 1999–2000 season, at the age of 23. His biggest achievements include winning the gold medal at the 1997 World Championships and winning the handball tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, both with Russia. He was also the winner of the Champions League with Celje Pivovarna Laško in the 2003/04 season.

Photo of Dmitri Torgovanov

3. Dmitri Torgovanov (1974 - )

With an HPI of 33.20, Dmitri Torgovanov is the 3rd most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Dmitri Nikolaevich Torgovanov (Russian: Дмитрий Николаевич Торгованов; born 5 January 1972) is a former Russian handball player and Olympic Champion from 2000 in Sydney. He is currently a head coach for Neva. He was the head coach for the Russian national team between 2015 and 2017. He received a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the Russian national team.

Photo of Vasily Kudinov

4. Vasily Kudinov (1969 - 2017)

With an HPI of 32.48, Vasily Kudinov is the 4th most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Vasily Kudinov (17 February 1969 – 11 February 2017) was a Russian handball player, born in Ilyinka, Astrakhan Oblast, Russian SFSR. He participated in three Olympics, winning two gold medals and one bronze medal. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a gold medal with the Unified Team at the Olympics. He played for the Russia men's national handball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where Russia won the gold medal. Kudinov died on 11 February 2017, six days prior to his 48th birthday, in Astrakhan.

Photo of Timur Dibirov

5. Timur Dibirov (1983 - )

With an HPI of 32.20, Timur Dibirov is the 5th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Timur Magomedovich Dibirov (Russian: Тимур Магомедович Дибиров; born 30 July 1983) is a Russian handball player who plays for RK Zagreb and the Russian national team. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where the Russian team placed sixth. Besides the Russian, Dibirov also holds Macedonian citizenship. Dibirov is all-time top scorer for RK Vardar in the EHF Champions League having scored 525 goals as of 19 November 2020. He was voted Best left wing of the season 2022/2023 for the EHF Excellence Awards.

Photo of Sergey Pogorelov

6. Sergey Pogorelov (1974 - 2019)

With an HPI of 30.91, Sergey Pogorelov is the 6th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Sergey Valentinovich Pogorelov (Russian: Серге́й Валентинович Погорелов; June 2, 1974 in Volgograd – April 24, 2019 in Volgograd) was a Russian team handball player and Olympic champion from 2000 in Sydney. He received a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the Russian national team.

Photo of Anna Vyakhireva

7. Anna Vyakhireva (1995 - )

With an HPI of 30.72, Anna Vyakhireva is the 7th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Anna Viktorovna Vyakhireva (Russian: Анна Викторовна Вяхирева, IPA: [ˈanːə ˈvʲæxʲɪrʲɪvə]; born 13 March 1995) is a Russian female professional handballer, who plays for Vipers Kristiansand and the Russian national team.

Photo of Denis Krivoshlykov

8. Denis Krivoshlykov (1971 - )

With an HPI of 30.22, Denis Krivoshlykov is the 8th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Denis Ivanovich Krivoshlykov (Russian: Денис Иванович Кривошлыков) (born May 10, 1971 in Moscow) is a Russian team handball player and Olympic Champion from 2000 in Sydney. He received a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the Russian national team.

Photo of Yekaterina Ilyina

9. Yekaterina Ilyina (1991 - )

With an HPI of 29.62, Yekaterina Ilyina is the 9th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Ekaterina Fyodorovna Ilina (Russian: Екатерина Фёдоровна Ильина, tr. Ekaterina Ilyina, IPA: [ɪ̯ɪkətʲɪˈrʲinə ɪlʲɪ̯ɪˈna]; born 7 March 1991) is a Russian handball player for HBC CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team.

Photo of Anna Sedoykina

10. Anna Sedoykina (1984 - )

With an HPI of 29.06, Anna Sedoykina is the 10th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Anna Sergeyevna Sedoykina (Russian: Анна Сергеевна Седойкина, IPA: [ˈanːə sʲɪˈdoɪ̯kʲɪnə]; born 1 August 1984) is a Russian handball player for CSKA Moscow and the Russian national handball team. She received a bronze medal with the Russian team at the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship in Macedonia.

People

Pantheon has 29 people classified as handball players born between 1962 and 1995. Of these 29, 27 (93.10%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living handball players include Andrey Lavrov, Eduard Koksharov, and Dmitri Torgovanov. The most famous deceased handball players include Vasily Kudinov and Sergey Pogorelov. As of April 2022, 5 new handball players have been added to Pantheon including Dmitri Torgovanov, Kseniya Makeyeva, and Vladlena Bobrovnikova.

Living Handball Players

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Deceased Handball Players

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Newly Added Handball Players (2022)

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