Tonje Larsen

Tonje Larsen

Personal information
Born	26 January 1975 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)
Medal record Women's handball Representing  Norway Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Team 2000 Sydney Team World Championship 1999 Denmark/Norway Team 1997 Germany Team 2009 China Team European Championship 1998 Netherlands Team 2008 Macedonia Team 2010 Denmark/Norway Team 1996 Denmark Team 2002 Denmark Team 1994 Germany Team
^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.

International championships

Larsen made her debut with the national team in June 1992 against Denmark, seventeen years old, when Sven-Tore Jacobsen was head coach.^[1] Her first major tournament came when Marit Breivik selected her for the 1994 European Championship in Germany, where she won a bronze medal.^[2] 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.^[3]

Due to jumper's knee, she was out of the team in 2001 and between 2003 and 2008.^[2] 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.^[2][4] Finally, she underwent surgery successfully in 2006.^[5] As a side effect of the years she spent injured, Larsen is now considered to be an excellent defense player.^[6]

She made her comeback to the national team in 2008, winning a gold medal both at the Summer Olympics in Beijing^[7] 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.^[8]

As of January 2009, she has played more than 200 matches for the national team, and scored more than 500 goals.^[9]

Club career

Larsen started playing handball for her hometown club Tønsberg Turn. She was recruited to Larvik HK when Marit Breivik coached the club, and has later played for Larvik, except one year with the Danish club Viborg HK, in the 1998/1999 season. With Viborg she won the Danish championship as well as the Women's EHF Cup.

With Larvik HK she won the EHF Cup Winners' Cup in 2004/2005, and again in 2007/2008. She reached the semi final of the Women's EHF Champions League in 2002 and in 2004, and reached the final at the Women's EHF Cup in 1996. She won the Norwegian national championship title with Larvik HK in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. She has won the Norwegian top League with Larvik ten times, in 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Awards

• Player of the year 2002 in the Norwegian League^[10]
• Player of the year 2003 in the Norwegian League^[11]
• Selected into the All-star-team as Best left back at the 2008 European championship

References

1. "Larsen, Tonje : Landslag kvinner senior" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
2. Vestreng, Tom (21 November 2008). "Halve livet på landslaget" (in Norwegian). Dagsavisen. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
3. "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Handball". databaseOlympics.com. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
4. Nygård, Stig (7 December 2008). "Tonje Larsen vurderte å gi opp" (in Norwegian). TV 2 Sporten. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
5. Løsnæs, Elisabeth (28 June 2006). "Tonje Larsen skal opereres" (in Norwegian). Østlands-Posten. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
6. Ambros, Ivan (21 October 2008). "Positively surprised". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
7. "Profile: Tonje Larsen". sports.reference.com. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
8. "EURO 2008 All-Star Team". European Handball Federation. 14 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
9. "Landslagsprofiler – Tonje Larsen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
10. Ånerud, Grethe (26 April 2002). "Tonje Larsen årets spiller" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
11. Ånerud, Grethe (1 April 2003). "Tonje Larsen Årets Gildeseriespiller" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 2009-05-04.