Tonje Larsen (born 26 January 1975) is a retired Norwegian

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 who played for the Norwegian national team. She is Olympic champion, World champion and three times European champion. As a club player she is several times Norwegian champion and once Danish champion, and has won 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 ...

EHF Cup Winners' Cup The EHF Cup Winners' Cup was the official competition for men's and women's handball clubs of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocea ...

and 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 ...

Personal life

Larsen was born in

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

on 26 January 1975.

International championships

Larsen made her debut with the national team in June 1992 against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, seventeen years old, when Sven-Tore Jacobsen was head coach. Her first major tournament came when

Marit Breivik Marit Breivik (born 10 April 1955) is a Norwegian former handball player and coach. She is one of the most decorated national team coaches in handball history and won thirteen championship medals with the Norwegian women's national handball te ...

selected her for the 1994 European Championship in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where she won a bronze medal. She continued playing for the national team and received medals in the three major competitions for women's handball: gold in the 1998 European Championship, gold in the 1999 World Championship and bronze 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 ...

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 ...

. Due to

jumper's knee Patellar tendinitis, also known as jumper's knee, is an overuse injury of the tendon that straightens the knee. Symptoms include pain in the front of the knee. Typically the pain and tenderness is at the lower part of the kneecap, though the ...

, she was out of the team in 2001 and between 2003 and 2008. She continued playing for Larvik mostly on defense, as her knees could not tolerate the heavier stress of the offensive game. Her career seemed to be in danger, and she considered retiring. Finally, she underwent surgery successfully in 2006. As a side effect of the years she spent injured, Larsen is now considered to be an excellent defense player. She made her comeback to the national team in 2008, winning a gold medal both at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and at the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

held in December in the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, where she also made the official All-Star Team as the ''Best left back'' of the championship. As of January 2009, she has played more than 200 matches for the national team, and scored more than 500 goals.

Club career

Larsen started playing handball for her hometown club Tønsberg Turn. She was recruited to

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 ...

when

coached the club, and has later played for Larvik, except one year with the Danish club

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 the 1998/1999 season. With Viborg she won the Danish championship as well as the

Women's EHF Cup The Women's EHF European League is an annual competition for women's handball clubs of Europe. It is organized by the European Handball Federation, EHF. It is currently the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the ...

. With

she won the

in 2004/2005, and again in 2007/2008. She reached the semi-final of the

Women's EHF Champions League The EHF Women's Champions League is the competition for the top women's handball clubs in Europe, organised annually by the European Handball Federation (EHF). It is the most prestigious tournament for clubs, with the champions of Europe's top na ...

in 2002 and in 2004, and reached the final at the

in 1996. She won the Norwegian national championship title with Larvik HK in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. She has won the Norwegian top League with Larvik ten times, in 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Awards and recognitions

Larsen was awarded the

Håndballstatuetten Håndballstatuetten is a Norwegian Handball award given to Norwegian players who has represented the Norwegian national team. The awardee must have played at least 200 matches and played at least 60% of matches in a 6-year period. It is awarded a ...

trophy from the

Norwegian Handball Federation The Norwegian Handball Federation (, NHF) is the national handball association in Norway. The Norwegian Handball Federation was founded in 1937, and is a member of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) ...

in 2016, for her overall career. Her individual awards also include: *Player of the year 2002 in the Norwegian League *Player of the year 2003 in the Norwegian League *Selected into the ''All-star-team'' as ''Best left back'' at the 2008 European championship

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Tonje 1975 births Living people Norwegian female handball players Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Handball players from Tønsberg Viborg HK players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Norwegian expatriate handball players in Denmark