Erik Hajas (born 16 September 1962) is a Swedish former

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 and handball coach. During the 1980s and 1990s he was one of the best wing players in the world. He won the 1990 World Championship and the 1994 European Championship, and he competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, and in 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, ...

, where Sweden won silver medals both times. He had the nickname 'Hajen' (the shark).

Club career

As a senior player he played for SoIK Hellas and IF Guif in Sweden as an amateur player. He later went professional at the Spanish club CB Maritim Puerto Cruz for one season in 1990–91. Afterwards he returned to his childhood club IFK Tumba in the Swedish Division 1. He has been the top scorer in the Swedish top division six times. In total he scored 1986 goals for his various clubs, which was the record until he was overtaken by Zoran Roganović. In 1994 he became the third player to score 17 goals in a Swedish league match.

National team

In 1981 Hajas played for youth national team matches. He debuted for the senior team on 26 October 1984 against Iceland. In 1988 he was a member of the Swedish handball team which finished fifth in the Olympic tournament. He played all six games and scored 21 goals. In 1990 he won 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 ...

, which was a bit of a sensation. In 1992 he was part of the Swedish team which won the silver medal at the 1992 Olympics. He played six matches and scored 30 goals. In 1994 he won the European Championship. At the 1996 Games he won his second silver medal with the Swedish team. He played six matches and scored 30 goals.

Post-playing career

After his playing days he has been the coach at his former club IFK Tumba. Otherwise he has worked as a fire fighter.

Achievements

Top scorer in the Swedish top league: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98.Skyttekungar 1934–2012
(PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2013

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hajas, Erik 1962 births Living people Swedish male handball players Olympic handball players for Sweden Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Swedish expatriate handball players in Spain Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swedish people of Hungarian descent Swedish handball coaches 20th-century Swedish sportsmen Eskilstuna Guif players SoIK Hellas Handboll players