Cecilie Leganger
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Cecilie Leganger (born 12 March 1975) is a Norwegian retired
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 ...
er. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Leganger won the 1998 European Championship and the 1999 World Championship with the Norwegian national team, and received the IHF World Player of the Year award in 2001. At club level, Leganger won 27 titles playing for clubs in Norway, Slovenia and Denmark, including three
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 ...
titles. She made her debut for the Norwegian national team in 1993 at age 17. Leganger was voted the most valuable player at the 1993 World Championship, and included on the All-Star Team of four World Championships (1993,
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
,
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
) and two European Championships (
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, 1998). Leganger made 162 appearances and scored one goal for the national team until her retirement from international handball in 2004. She was inducted into the European Handball Hall of Fame in 2023.


Club career

Leganger began her senior career at
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
-based club Fyllingen IL in 1993. In 1994, she transferred to city rivals Tertnes HE. Leganger retired from handball in 1996, before making a comeback a year later with Bækkelagets SK. She won the EHF Cup Winners' Cup and finished runners-up in the EHF Champions Trophy in 1998 and 1999 with the club. Leganger also won the Norwegian Championship in 1999, and the Norwegian Cup in 1999 and 2001. She returned to Tertnes in 2001. Leganger transferred to Slovenian club RK Krim in 2003, where she won the Champions Trophy, the Slovenian Championship and the Slovenian Cup in her only season with the team, in addition to finishing runners-up in the
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 ...
. In 2004, Leganger moved to Danish club Slagelse FH, winning the Champions League and Danish Championship in 2005 and 2007, becoming the first Norwegian to win the former. She was voted female Player of the Year in Denmark in 2007. The following year, Leganger transferred to league rivals FCK Håndbold, where she won the Cup Winners' Cup and
Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...
in 2009. Leganger returned to Norwegian handball with
Larvik HK Larvik Håndballklubb, is a professional women's handball club from Larvik, Norway. The club has won 36 titles total in both the Eliteserien (women's handball), Norwegian League and the Norwegian Women's Handball Cup, Norwegian Cup, and won the ...
in 2010, winning the Champions League, the Norwegian Championship and the Norwegian Cup in her first season with the club. She finished runners-up in the Champions League with the club in 2013, and won six additional league and cup titles before retiring from handball in 2014.


International career

Leganger made her debut for the Norwegian national team in 1993, at age 17. She appeared at the 1993 World Championship and earned a bronze medal with the national team, in addition to being voted the best goalkeeper and most valuable player of the championship. At the 1994 European Championship, Norway again finished third, while Leganger was included on the All-Star Team as best goalkeeper for a second time. She was voted best goalkeeper for a third consecutive international competition during the 1995 World Championship, where the national team placed fourth. Leganger retired from handball in 1996 and later returned as a club player after a one-year break, but did not play for the national team until 1998. That same year, she won the 1998 European Championship with the Norwegian team and was voted best goalkeeper at an international competition for a fourth time. Leganger and the national team would go on to win the 1999 World Championship, where she was included on the All-Star Team for a fifth time. The Norwegian national team earned the bronze medal at 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 ...
in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
."2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Handball"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved 29 April 2008)
Leganger declined to play for the national team at the 2000 European Championship due to her university studies in medicine. She returned to the national team for the 2001 World Championship, where Norway finished runners-up as Leganger was voted best goalkeeper of an international competition for a sixth time. She missed the 2002 European Championship, where Norway again finished runners-up, due to injury. At the 2003 World Championship, Leganger and Norway placed sixth. On 27 March 2004, Leganger played her last match with the Norwegian national team before retiring, having made 162 appearances and scored one goal since her debut in 1993.


Honours


Club

Bækkelagets SK * EHF Cup Winners' Cup:
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
* Norwegian Championship: 1999 * Norwegian Cup: 1999, 2001 RK Krim * EHF Champions Trophy: 2003 * Slovenian Championship: 2004 * Slovenian Cup: 2004 Slagelse FH *
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 ...
: 2005, 2007 * Danish Championship: 2005, 2007 FCK Håndbold * EHF Cup Winners' Cup: 2009 *
Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...
: 2009 Larvik HK * EHF Champions League:
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
* Norwegian Championship: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 * Norwegian Cup: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Norwegian Playoffs: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014


Individual

* IHF World Player of the Year: 2001Previous World Handball Players
'' (Retrieved 11 December 2007)''
– ''houstonhandball.org'' (Retrieved 29 April 2008) *Most Valuable Player (
MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...
) of the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
:
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
*All-Star Goalkeeper of the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
:
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
,
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
,
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
*All-Star Goalkeeper of the European Championship:
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
*All-Star Goalkeeper of the Norwegian Championship: 1999–2000, 2000–2001, 2001–2002, 2010–2011, 2011–2012 *All-Star Goalkeeper of the Danish Championship: 2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2008–2009 *Danish Championship Player of the Year: 2007"Leganger og Mogensen er årets håndboldspillere"
– ''Berlingske Tidende (Lørdag den 5. januar 2008)'' (Retrieved 29 April 2008)
*Best Norwegian Female Handball Player of All Time: 2008, 2015 *Best Norwegian National Team Goalkeeper of All Time: 2012 * Håndballstatuetten: 2016 * EHF Hall of Fame in 2023.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leganger, Cecilie 1975 births Living people Norwegian female handball players Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Olympic handball players for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players from Bergen Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Norwegian expatriate handball players in Denmark Expatriate handball players in Slovenia