Kentin Mahé

{{Infobox handball biography

| name = Kentin Mahé

| image = 2024-09-25 Handball TVB Stuttgart - VfL Gummersbach by mroptimax-58.jpg

| caption = Mahé in 2024

| nationality = French

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|5|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Paris, France

| height = 1.86 m

| position = Centre back/Left Wing

| currentclub = VfL Gummersbach

| clubnumber = 22

| youthyears1 = 1997–1999

| youthclubs1 = AS Monaco

| youthyears2 = 1999–2000

| youthclubs2 = ASPTT Nice

| youthyears3 = 2000–2008

| youthclubs3 = TSV Bayer Dormagen

| youthyears4 = 2008

| youthclubs4 = Hammarby IF

| youthyears5 = 2009

| youthclubs5 = TSV Bayer Dormagen

| years1 = 2009–2011

| clubs1 = DHC Rheinland

| years2 = 2011–2013

| clubs2 = VfL Gummersbach

| years3 = 2013–2015

| clubs3 = HSV Hamburg

| years4 = 2015–2018

| clubs4 = SG Flensburg-Handewitt

| years5 = 2018–2024

| clubs5 = Telekom Veszprém

| years6 = 2024–

| clubs6 = VfL Gummersbach

| nationalyears1 = 2010–

| nationalteam1 = France

| nationalcaps1 = 173

| nationalgoals1 = 558

| ntupdate = 12 July 2024

| medaltemplates =

}}

Kentin Mahé (born 22 May 1991) is a French handball player for VfL Gummersbach and the French national team.{{cite web|url=http://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/HB_PROD/HBWC17M/PDF_ROSTER_FRA.PDF|title=2017 World Championship Roster|website=sportresult.com|publisher=IHF|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223043606/http://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/HB_PROD/HBWC17M/PDF_ROSTER_FRA.PDF|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eurohandball.com/player/535178|title=Profile|publisher=eurohandball.com|access-date=15 January 2015}}

Early life

Kentin Mahé was born in Paris and started to play handball at age six in AS Monaco, before briefly representing ASPTT Nice. In 2000, he moved to Germany where he grew up, due to his father Pascal Mahé, a former handball player, taking up several managerial positions in the country.{{cite web|url=http://handbollskanalen.se/cl-herrar/extra-kentin-mahe-lamnar-flensburg-veszprem/|title=EXTRA: Kentin Mahé lämnar Flensburg för Veszprém|date=10 March 2017 |publisher=Handbollskanalen|language=sv|access-date=24 January 2018}}

His maternal grandmother is from Sweden and he lived in Stockholm for four months in 2008, aged 18, playing youth handball with then reigning national champions Hammarby IF.

Career

Mahé returned to Germany in 2009 and made his senior debut for DHC Rheinland, before enjoying stints in VfL Gummersbach and HSV Hamburg.

In 2015, he signed with the German top club SG Flensburg-Handewitt where he developed into a world class-player under the management of Ljubomir Vranjes. He joined the Hungarian club Telekom Veszprém on 1 July 2018.

Achievements

=National team=

Olympic Games:
{{gold medal}}: 2020
{{silver medal}}: 2016
World Championship:
{{gold medal}}: 2015, 2017
{{bronze medal}}: 2019
European Men's Handball Championship
{{bronze medal}}: 2018

=Domestic competitions=

Handball-Bundesliga:
{{gold medal}}: 2018
Nemzeti Bajnokság I:
{{gold medal}}: 2019, 2023
Magyar Kupa
{{gold medal}}: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Individual awards

MVP of the EHF Cup Final Four tournament: 2015
All-Star team Best Centre Back of the EHF Champions League: 2019, 2022{{cite web|url=https://www.eurohandball.com/en/news/en/ehf-champions-league-men-2021-22-all-star-team-awarded/|title=EHF Champions League Men 2021/22 All-star Team awarded|date=17 June 2022|work=European Handball Federation}}