Bouktit always announced herself as one of the future top players in women’s handball, securing the All-Star line player nomination at the W17 EHF EURO 2019. World Champion with France, Bouktit, is also an alumnus of the Respect Your Talent programme at the W19 EHF EURO 2021.
Launched in 2019 by the EHF, the Respect Your Talent programme promotes the holistic development of talented players, both on and off the handball court, addressing topics such as dual career, anti-doping, mental fitness, media and sports law.
During the past years, a plethora of young players have taken part in the programme, mentored by former stalwarts, such as Anja Althaus, Nerea Pena, Katarina Bulatovic and Jelena Grubisic or current players like Ana Gros, Andrea Lekic or Stine Oftedal.
Now, Bouktit has come of age in this season of the EHF Champions League Women, being also on track to be nominated in France’s squad for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where “Les Bleuses” will aim to retain the title won at Tokyo 2020.
The learning curve is steep though, even for Bouktit, whose team lost both matches at the EHF FINAL4, finishing in fourth place, a disappointing ending to an excellent season for the French champions.
"We started the match well. We were in it, we felt good, there were some small mistakes in the first period but we took them on the chin. But when everything fell apart we had nothing, we lost all the balls, we couldn't score even from six metres," said Bouktit after the semi-final loss against Bietigheim.
Nevertheless, Bouktit, who has 227 goals in three seasons in the European premium competition, looks set to be back and dominate in the future.
Four other “Respect Your Talents” alumni, Bietigheim’s Anne With Johansen and Klara Birtic, Esbjerg’s Luciana Rebelo and Györ’s Júlia Farkas, had limited time on the court throughout this edition of the EHF FINAL4, where they were in their team’s rosters.
