Suddenly & unexpectedly

Handball legend found dead in hotel room!

Eduard Alexandrovich Koksharov at the 2007 World Handball Championship in the Russian national team jersey(Bild: AFP)

A true giant of the sport of handball, both on the global and Russian stages, is no longer with us—Eduard Alexandrovich Koksharov, who played 226 times for the Russian national team and scored 1,100 goals, has died completely unexpectedly at the age of just 50!

Koksharov, who won gold with Russia at the 2000 Olympic Games and the 1997 World Championships, as well as the 2007 Champions League with RK Celje, died during a training camp with the Belarusian team Brest GK Meshkov, which he coached—apparently alone in his hotel room.

“Apparently a stroke or heart attack!”
Vladimir Maksimov, former coach of the Russian national team and a longtime confidant of the deceased, told Russian media that Koksharov likely suffered “apparently a stroke or heart attack.”

Russian national team coach Vladimir Maksimov and Eduard Alexandrovich Koksharov(Bild: AFP)

“After he didn’t show up for breakfast today, they went to his room and opened the door—and found him dead,” said Maksimov. “He passed away far too soon!”

“Why so soon, dear Eduard Alexandrovich?”
Sergei Shishkarev, president of the Russian Handball Federation, added: “Half a century—is that really an age for a strong, healthy man standing 1.85 meters tall? Why so soon, dear Eduard Alexandrovich? Why?!”

Brest GK Meshkov, whose team Koksharov had coached since March 2023, emphasized that the deceased “will be remembered as a person who left a lasting impression on our team and in the hearts of everyone who knew him.”

Koksharov’s death “is an irreplaceable loss for the entire handball family and a great shock to the global handball community.”