Bjarne Jeppesen (19 August 1954 – 14 October 2024) was a Danish

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 competed in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. He was known for his speed on the left wing. He died on 14 October 2024, at the age of 70.

Playing Career

Jeppesen started his handball career at

Efterslægten HF-Centret Efterslægten ( Danish, "future generations") was founded as Efterslægtselskabets Skole by the philanthropic society ''Selskabet for Efterslægten'' on 4 March 1786 as a lower middle school and started teaching on 3 January 1787. In 188 ...

, and joined Fredericia KFUM in the late 1970's. In 1976 he reached the final of the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

with the club, but lost to

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main ...

in the final. In 1979 he was named Danish male handball player of the year. In the 1981-82 he was the top scorer in the

Danish handball league The Herreligaen (men's league), formerly known as Herrehåndboldligaen (men's handball league), is the men's top Danish professional handball league. The winners of the Herreligaen are recognised as the Danish men's handball champions. The curr ...

with 117 goals. In 1983 he joined Kolding HK where he was the

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for two years before joining city rivals

KIF Kolding KIF Kolding is a professional handball club based in Kolding, Denmark who competes in the Danish Handball League. KIF Kolding has won the Danish Handball League, Danish Handball Championship a record 14 times. It is a part of the broader sports ...

, once again as a player coach. Here he won the Danish championship four times in a row between 1987 and 1991; the first championships in club history. He retired in 1991 at the age of 37. He then continued as a coach at the club for three more years, winning a fifth Danish championship. Later he played for a short while for

TMS Ringsted TMS Ringsted is a 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 ...

National team

He debuted for the Danish national team on February 24th, 1977 and played a total of 88 national team matches. His last match was in 1982. In 1980 he finished ninth with the Danish team in the Olympic tournament. The Danish team only one a single match. He played five matches and scored 24 goals. His most famous moment was when he scored the winning goal against Spain at the 1982 World Championship in West Germany. Denmark had finished third in the prelimenary round. In the main round a draw against Hungary meant that the team did not reach the final, but had to contend with the third place play-off against Poland, which they lost by a single goal.

Post playing career

Bjarne Jeppesen worked as a teacher in

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...

References

External links

profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeppesen, Bjarne 1954 births 2024 deaths Danish male handball players Danish handball coaches Olympic handball players for Denmark Handball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Glostrup Municipality Handball players from the Capital Region of Denmark 20th-century Danish sportsmen KIF Kolding players