Spherical nanocrystalline TiH2 powder was synthesized by calciothermic reduction of TiO2 with CaH2 at low temperature. Reduction was performed in solid state either by reactive milling in H2 or via pre-milling in Ar with subsequent heat treatment in H2. Reactively milled powders are pyrophoric on exposure to air. Leaching of the side product CaO was only successful from the pre-milled and heat treated powders. As synthesized TiH2 is stable in air and desorbs H2 below 600 °C forming nanocrystalline Ti. Therefore it is suitable to prepare ultra finegrained cp-Ti.