*** Welcome to piglix ***

Tonje Larsen

Tonje Larsen
Personal information
Born (1975-01-26) 26 January 1975 (age 42)
Tønsberg, Norway
Nationality Norwegian
Playing position Center Back
Club information
Current club Retired
Youth clubs
Tønsbergs Turn
Senior clubs
1993–1998
1998–1999
1999–2015
Larvik HK
Viborg HK
Larvik HK
National team 1
1992–2010 Norway 264 (567)
1 National team caps and goals correct
as of 19 December 2010

Tonje Larsen (born 26 January 1975 in Tønsberg) is a retired Norwegian handballer who played for the Norwegian national team. She is Olympic champion, World champion and twice European champion. As a club player she is several times Norwegian champion and once Danish champion, and has won the EHF Cup, EHF Cup Winners' Cup and the EHF Champions League.

Larsen made her debut with the national team in June 1992 against Denmark, seventeen years old, when Sven-Tore Jacobsen was head coach. Her first major tournament came when Marit Breivik selected her for the 1994 European Championship in Germany, where she won a bronze medal. She continued playing for the national team and received medals in the three major competitions for women's handball: gold in the 1998 European Championship, gold in the 1999 World Championship and bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Due to jumper's knee, she was out of the team in 2001 and between 2003 and 2008. She continued playing for Larvik mostly on defense, as her knees could not tolerate the heavier stress of the offensive game. Her career seemed to be in danger, and she considered retiring. Finally, she underwent surgery successfully in 2006. As a side effect of the years she spent injured, Larsen is now considered to be an excellent defense player.

She made her comeback to the national team in 2008, winning a gold medal both at the Summer Olympics in Beijing and at the European Championship held in December in the Republic of Macedonia, where she also made the official All-Star Team as the Best left back of the championship.


...
Wikipedia

...