Heidi Astrup (born 31 May 1972) is a former Danish

team 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 Handball goalkeeper, goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...

player and Olympic champion. She received a gold medal with the Danish national team 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, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

."1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Handball"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 12 February 2008) She is two times European champion, and received a bronze medal at the 1995 World championship. For a decade she was one of the dominant back players in the Danish league, where she played around 400 matches.

Career

Astrup started playing handball in

Viborg HK Viborg HK (Viborg Håndbold Klub) is a Danish professional handball club from Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. The club has many teams for both women and men, but especially the professional women's team is one of the most successful in Danish and Euro ...

in 1979. In 1989 she was promoted to the top flight with Viborg HK, where the club quickly became one of the dominant clubs. At the same time, she began featuring for the Danish national team, when

Ulrik Wilbek Ulrik Wilbek (born 13 April 1958) is a Danish politician and former professional handball coach who is the incumbent Mayor of Viborg Municipality, serving in office since 2018. He is the most successful Danish team handball coach ever, having wo ...

became the coach. In the 1994-95 season she was the topscorer in the Danish league with 157 goals. In 1996 she was part of the team reaching the final of the

1996 European Women's Handball Championship The 1996 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was the second edition of the European Championship. It was held in Denmark from 6–15 December. Denmark won their second title in a row after beating Norway 25–23 in the final. Venues The E ...

, but she had to see her team win the final from the stands, as she was not a part of the selected team. The day after she announced her retirement from the national team. It would take 11 years and the promotion of a new coach,

Jan Pytlick Jan Pytlick (born 5 June 1967) is a Danish handball coach, and trains Saudi Arabia national team. He was head coach for the Danish women's national handball team from 1998 to 2006, and again from 2007 to 2014. Pytlick has led the women's nation ...

for her to return to the Danish national team. In 1997 she joined the Japanese club Chateraise, but was back in Danish handball in 1999 at her old club

. In the meantime Viborg HK had hired Ulrik Wilbek, the coach that did not include her in the national team squad. The two had however reconciled, and Astrup was granted a key role on the Viborg team that won the Danish League and EHF-Cup in the 1999–2000 season. She joined league rivals Aalborg DH in 2003, before once again returning to Viborg HK in 2005 where she played the last two years of her active career. In 2014 she made a brief return at the age of 42, again for Viborg Hk. Today she works as a Accountant.

Achievements

Damehåndboldligaen The Kvindeligaen () is the top professional league for Danish women's handball clubs. It is administered by the Danish Handball Federation, and the winners are recognized as Danish champions. The league was previously called Bambusa Kvindeligaen ...

: **''Winner'': 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 **''Silver Medalist'': 1991, 1993, 1998, 2005, 2007 * DHF Landspokalturneringen: **''Winner'': 1996 *

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 ...

: **''Winner'': 2006 **''Finalist'': 1997, 2001 *

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 ...

: **''Winner'': 1994, 1999

References

http://history.eurohandball.com/ec/cl/men/2002-03/player/505072/Heidi+HolmeAstrup {{DEFAULTSORT:Astrup, Heidi 1972 births Living people Danish female handball players Olympic gold medalists for Denmark Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Viborg HK players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players from the Central Denmark Region Sportspeople from Viborg Municipality