Bertrand Gille (handballer)

Bertrand Fabien Gille (born 24 March 1978 in Valence, Drôme) is a handball player from France. Very strong physically (1.87m, 98 kg), and was honored with the title of World Player of the Year in 2002.

His career as a handball player started very early: in 1984, he played for HBC Loriol and followed sport étude as a scholastic path. From 1996 to 2002, he played for Chambéry SH (under the guidance of Philippe Gardent, another famous French handball player) before joining the German club HSV Hamburg. He has been playing together with his brother, Guillaume Gille, since they were little. They have played together in HBC Loriol, Chambéry SH and now HSV Hamburg.

Member of the national team since 1997, "Gilou" was again pivot on the team which, among others, won the handball competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he was also named best pivot of the tournament. He decided to suspend his international career after a physical injury contracted during the Handball-Bundesliga of 2009. His successor on the team was Cédric Sorhaindo. Now, 2010, Bertrand Gille is back on the team. He was a part of the team, who won European Championships 2010. He was also part of the French team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.