Peter Andreas Larsson (born 13 August 1974) is a Swedish

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player who won

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

three times in a row and won silver medals at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Career

Larsson started playing handball at HK Country, where he also practiced

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

. At the age of 16 he joined

IFK Skövde IFK Skövde is a Swedish handball club from the city of Skövde, whose roots can be traced back to 1907. The current organization, however, got its shape through a reorganization in 1991. The team has been in the Handbollsligan (Swedish highes ...

where he played handball, while he practiced Motocross in Tibro. When he was promoted to the IFK Skövde first team he decided to focus fully on handball. He played for IFK Skövde until 1996, reaching 107 matches and 500 goals for the club. He then moved to Germany to become professional. First to TuS Schutterwald, then to

TBV Lemgo TBV Lemgo is a handball club from Lemgo, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History The ascent to one of the best German handball clubs was slow but steady. In the year the Bundesliga was founded, the club was still in the O ...

for two seasons. With Lemgo he won the 1997 German Supercup. In the 1997-98

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

he reached the semifinal, where Lemgo lost to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. In 1999 he moved to HSG Nordhorn, where he played until 2004. In 2004 he returned to his childhood club HK Country, where he retired. In 2006 he made a comeback for IFK Skövde, until an infection in the knee prevented him from playing. His shirt number (#13) is retired at IFK Skövde.

National team

Larsson debuted for the Swedish national team on June 10th 1993 against Kirgizistan. He won the European Championship three times in a row from 1998 to 2002, and participated in two Olympic games, winning silver medals both times. In 1996 he was a member of the Swedish handball team won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament. He played two matches and scored six goals. Four years later he was part of the Swedish team which won the silver medal again. He played seven matches and scored 17 goals.

References

* 1974 births Living people Swedish male handball players Olympic handball players for Sweden Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Swedish expatriate handball players in Germany Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games HSG Nordhorn-Lingen players TBV Lemgo players Sportspeople from Skövde Municipality Handball players from Västra Götaland County {{Sweden-handball-bio-stub