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Anja Andersen

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Anja Andersen
Personal information
Born (1969-02-15) 15 February 1969 (age 55)
Odense, Denmark
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Back
Senior clubs
Years Team
 Denmark Stjernen IF
 Denmark Vejle Allested
 Denmark ASH 72
 Denmark IF Jarl Arden
1986–1987
 Denmark Aalborg KFUM
1987–1988
 Denmark Ikast FS
1989
 Denmark Viborg HK
1989–1993
 Norway Bækkelaget
1993–1996
 Germany TuS Walle Bremen
1996–1999
 Norway Bækkelaget
National team 1
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1998
 Denmark 133 (725)
Teams managed
2000–2008
 Denmark Slagelse DT
2006
 Serbia and Montenegro Serbia & Montenegro
2008–2010
 Denmark FCK Handball
2011
 Romania Oltchim Vâlcea
2011–2012
 Denmark Viborg HK (Men's team)
2013–2015
 Denmark DHG Odense
Medal record
Women's handball
Representing  Denmark
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1997 Germany Team
Silver medal – second place 1993 Norway Team
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Austria Hungary Team
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1994 Germany Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Denmark Team
1 National team caps and goals correct
as of 3 February 2011

Anja Jul Andersen (born 15 February 1969 in Odense, Denmark) is a former Danish team handball player and current coach. She is an Olympic champion, World champion and two times European champion. In 1997, she was named IHF World Player of the Year. She is widely regarded as one of the best female handball players of all time. She was admitted to the Danish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.[1]

Career

[edit]

Anja Andersen is known for her skills as an offensive player, as well as her strong temper and courage to make dramatic scenes and daring tricks during a match. She was an important part of the renaissance in Danish handball during the 1990s. Her temper and impressive skills afforded everybody an opinion and after the first gold medal at the European championship in 1994 the national team affectionately earned the nickname "the iron ladies" and status of national sports heroes.

Although the national handball team of the 1990s had many profiles it is undisputed that Andersen was the most prolific and controversial. Although nobody questioned her skills, her temper, causing numerous expulsions from high-profile matches, was an issue of some debate. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Danish coach, Ulrik Wilbek, briefly banned her from the team due to disputes of her playing style and behavior on the floor.[2]

She has played 133 matches for the Danish national handball team for women and has scored 725 goals.

It was also Andersen who introduced handball to true showmanship. Greatly influenced by basketball and notably the Harlem Globetrotters, she invented a playing style aimed at the audience rather than the opposing team. After her retirement as an active player, she organized a "dream team" of the best female handball players in 2000 and 2001 which played a selected Danish team. The "dream team" matches were a success, but they stopped when Andersen could no longer play actively herself.[3]

Because of a heart defect, Andersen stopped her player career in 1999.[4]

Coaching

[edit]

Andersen immediately started coaching the Danish Women's Handball League club Slagelse.[5] She first helped the team reach the top league and later win the Champions League three times, in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2006/07. In 2006, she also coached the national team of Serbia.

In 2008, she left Slagelse for FCK Håndbold.[6] In 2010, she left FCK Håndbold because the club dissolved and decided to take a break before coaching a new team.[7]

In February 2011, Andersen became the new coach of Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea. The Romanian club hired her in the attempt of winning the Champions League.[8][9]

In March 2011, after less than two months of coaching, she was fired because of poor results, losing two matches from a total of four on the bench of Oltchim in the main round of the Champions League.[10]

In 2015 after parting ways with the 1. division club DHG Håndbold, she stated that her managing career was over, and that she "could not imagine getting involved with Handball again".[11]

Achievements and recognition

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Achievements

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During her active career as a handball player she won numerous tournaments:

Her career as a coach has also yielded results:

Recognition

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  • 1994: Named the world's second best handball player
  • 1997: Named the world's best handball player
  • 2007: Recorded in the Danish Hall of Fame
  • 2009: Mathilde Prize for challenging the convention of coaches of elite athletes.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Anja Andersen". Sportens Hall of Fame (in Danish). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  2. ^ Anders Bo Rasmussen, TV2. Spillerne blev kaldt sammen efter sejr i semifinalen: – Der er sket noget forfærdeligt 13. dec. 2017
  3. ^ Kokborg, Johnny Wojciech (12 December 2021). "Historien om Slagelse Dream Team: 'Hun tog den hårde vej'". www.bt.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Anja Andersen stopper". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). 23 August 1999. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ Kokborg, Johnny Wojciech (12 December 2021). "Historien om Slagelse Dream Team: 'Hun tog den hårde vej'". www.bt.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Anja Andersen tager ni spillere med". DR (in Danish). 6 February 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. ^ "FCK-chok: Anja Andersen stopper – TV 2". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). 25 February 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  8. ^ "OFICIAL Anja Andersen a semnat cu Oltchim (Romanian)". 3 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  9. ^ "EXCLUSIV / Anja Andersen este noua antrenoare a Oltchimului! (Romanian)". Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Anja: excentrică, ineficientă, demisă (Romanian)". Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Anja Andersen siger farvel til håndbold". DR (in Danish). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Previous World Handball Players". International Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  13. ^ "Danskkvindesamfund.dk – Tidligere prismodtagere". Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
Awards
Preceded by IHF World Player of the Year – Women (1997) Succeeded by