Lene Rantala (born 10 August 1968 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a former 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 and handball coach, two times Olympic champion and a World champion. Rantala was assistant coach for

Vipers Kristiansand Vipers Kristiansand was a professional handball club from Kristiansand, Norway. The team competed in REMA 1000-ligaen, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 2001. They claimed their first Norwegian championship in 2018, ending ...

in the Norwegian REMA 1000-ligaen until the

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

of the club

Career

During her career she played for

Frederiksberg IF Frederiksberg Idræts-Forening, often just called Frederiksberg IF or FIF is a Danish sports club based in Frederiksberg. The club has teams in many different sports, but is most famous for its handball team. The men's team is currently playing i ...

and Brabrand in Denmark, before moving to Norway in 1994 to join Toten HK. In 1996 she joined IK Junkeren, where she played for a single season before joining

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 ...

. Here so won 40 titles with the club over a 17-year period. In 2014 she retired at the age of 45 to become a goalkeeping coach at the club. In December 2024 she made a short comeback due to the injury of Larvik goalkeeper Alma Hasanić.

National team

She debuted on the Danish national team on 14 February 1991, and has since played 226 matches for Denmark. This makes her the 3rd most tenured player on the Danish Women's national team ever behind fellow goalkeeper

Karin Mortensen Karin Ørnhøj Mortensen (born 26 September 1977) is a former Danish team handball player and two times Olympic champion. She received gold medals with the Danish national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...

and

Janne Kolling Janne Kolling (born 12 July 1968) is a former Danish team handball player, two times Olympic champion and a World champion. She received gold medals with the Danish national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta

. She also has the record for the oldest player on the Danish national team ever with 42 years and 307 days. She has won numerous medals with the team, notably including two Olympic gold 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, ...

in Atlanta"1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Handball"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 12 February 2008) and 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."2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Handball"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 12 February 2008)

Personal life

Rantala is of Finnish descent through her paternal grandmother.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rantala, Lene 1968 births Living people Danish female handball players Danish handball coaches Olympic gold medalists for Denmark Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players from Copenhagen Olympic medalists in handball Danish people of Finnish descent Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Danish expatriate handball players in Norway Expatriate handball coaches Female handball coaches