Niclas Vest Kirkeløkke (born 26 March 1994) is a Danish

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 for

SG Flensburg-Handewitt SG Flensburg-Handewitt is a professional handball club from Flensburg and Handewitt in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and EHF European League. They play home matches at Flens-Arena. Since formin ...

and the Danish national team. He plays mainly right back, but has also played right wing on the national team. This is mainly due to his defensive acumen being needed, but since one of Denmark's best players,

Mathias Gidsel Mathias Gidsel (born 8 February 1999) is a Danish handball player for Füchse Berlin (handball), Füchse Berlin and the Denmark men's national handball team, Danish national team. A three-time winner of the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, ...

plays right back, he would not have a spot there.

Career

Kirkeløkke is the son of Gun-Britt Kirkeløkke who played many matches on the youth and junior national team in the early 1980s. Gun-Britts twin sister, Gun-Maj, also played 25 A-national matches from 1985 to 1987. His sister, Sarah Kirkeløkke, is also a professional handball player. Kirkeløkke began his handball career in Risøhøj Håndbold at the U6 age group, before making the move to GOG at the age of 11. In 2012, he was moved up to the senior team of GOG, when they played in the second highest tier, the 1st Division. He participated in the

2013 Men's Youth World Handball Championship The 2013 IHF Men's Youth World Championship was the 5th edition of the tournament and was held at Hungary from 10 – 23 August 2013. The Oceania Continent Handball Federation withdrew from the tournament. Denmark men's national handball team, D ...

, winning the tournament by beating Croatia and was named on the all-star team. He debuted for the Danish national team on November 3rd 2016 against the Netherlands. Two months later he played at his first major international tournament, the

2017 World Men's Handball Championship The 2017 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 25th event hosted by the International Handball Federation. The event was held in France from 11 to 29 January 2017. France, in a clean sweep, defended their title by defeating Norway 33–26 ...

. In 2018, he joined German club

Rhein-Neckar Löwen Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional handball club founded in 2002, based in Mannheim, Germany. The club competes in the German Handball-Bundesliga and continentally in EHF European League. Rhein-Neckar Löwen play their home games in SAP A ...

. In May 2021, he extended his contract at the club. With Rhein-Neckar Löwen, he won the

2022–23 DHB-Pokal The 2022–23 DHB-Pokal was the 46th edition of the tournament. Rhein-Neckar Löwen won their second title with a finals win over SC Magdeburg. Round 1 The draw was held on 28 June 2022. The matches were played between 26 and 29 August 2022. The ...

. In 2023, he was part of the Danish team that won the 2023 World Championship. For the 24/25 season, he joined league rivals

on a three year deal. In 2025, he won the

World Championship 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 ...

for a second time.

Individual awards

*All-Star Right back of the Youth World Championship:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Personal life

His sister, Sarah Kirkeløkke, is also a professional handball player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkelokke, Niclas Vest 1994 births Danish male handball players Living people Sportspeople from Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality Danish expatriate handball players in Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen players Handball-Bundesliga players Handball players from the Region of Southern Denmark 21st-century Danish sportsmen Handball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for Denmark SG Flensburg-Handewitt players Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Denmark Olympic medalists in handball