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 420 Handball Players, 30 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 8th most number of Handball Players behind Germany, and Croatia.

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 (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 55.96, Andrey Lavrov is the most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Andrey Ivanovich Lavrov (Russian: Андрей Иванович Лавров; born March 26, 1962, in Krasnodar) is a Russian former 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, clinching 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 served as the flagbearer for the Russian athletes at the 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 Vasily Kudinov

2. Vasily Kudinov (1969 - 2017)

With an HPI of 46.95, Vasily Kudinov is the 2nd most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 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 Sergey Pogorelov

3. Sergey Pogorelov (1974 - 2019)

With an HPI of 45.23, Sergey Pogorelov is the 3rd most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 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 Valery Gopin

4. Valery Gopin (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 44.45, Valery Gopin is the 4th most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Valery Pavlovich Gopin (Russian: Валерий Павлович Гопин, born 8 May 1964) is a Russian handball player. He became Olympic champion in 1988 with the Soviet Union national handball team, and in 1992 with the Unified Team. He became European champion with the Russia national handball team in 1996.

Photo of Eduard Koksharov

5. Eduard Koksharov (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 43.75, Eduard Koksharov is the 5th most famous Russian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 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

6. Dmitri Torgovanov (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 43.60, Dmitri Torgovanov is the 6th 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 Denis Krivoshlykov

7. Denis Krivoshlykov (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 42.62, Denis Krivoshlykov is the 7th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 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 Timur Dibirov

8. Timur Dibirov (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 42.45, Timur Dibirov is the 8th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Timur Magomedovich Dibirov (Russian: Тимур Магомедович Дибиров; born 30 July 1983) is a Russian former handball player. 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 Anna Vyakhireva

9. Anna Vyakhireva (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 41.57, Anna Vyakhireva is the 9th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 25 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 French club Brest Bretagne Handball and the Russian national team.

Photo of Lyudmila Postnova

10. Lyudmila Postnova (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 41.20, Lyudmila Postnova is the 10th most famous Russian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Lyudmila Grigoryevna Postnova (Russian: Людмила Григорьевна Постнова) (born 11 August 1984) is a former Russian handball player for, who last played for HC Astrakhanochka and the Russian women's national handball team. Postnova is considered one of the greatest Russian players of all time. She won gold medal with the Russian winning team at the 2005 World Women's Handball Championship in Saint Petersburg, Russia, again at the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship in France, and once more at the 2009 World Women's Handball Championship in China, when she was also given the title of Most Valuable Player of the championship.

People

Pantheon has 34 people classified as Russian handball players born between 1962 and 1995. Of these 34, 32 (94.12%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Russian handball players include Andrey Lavrov, Valery Gopin, and Eduard Koksharov. The most famous deceased Russian handball players include Vasily Kudinov, and Sergey Pogorelov. As of April 2024, 4 new Russian handball players have been added to Pantheon including Oleg Kuleshov, Aleksey Rastvortsev, and Natalya Shipilova.

Living Russian Handball Players

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Deceased Russian Handball Players

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Newly Added Russian Handball Players (2025)

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