Tonje Kjærgaard (born 11 June 1975) is a former Danish team handball player, World champion, two times European champion and two times Olympic champion. She won a gold medal with the Danish national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.[1] Four years later she won a gold medal with the Danish national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[2] She also won the 1997 World Cup in Germany.

Tonje Kjærgaard
Personal information
Full name Tonje Kjærgaard Jensen
Born (1975-06-11) 11 June 1975 (age 49)
Silkeborg, Denmark
Nationality Danish
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Line Player
Youth career
Years Team
1991–1992
Silkeborg-Voel KFUM
Senior clubs
Years Team
1992–2004
Ikast fS
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994-2000
Denmark 139 (342)
Medal record
Women's handball
Representing  Denmark
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 1993 Norway
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Austria/Hungary Team
Gold medal – first place 1997 Germany Team
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1994 Germany Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Denmark Team
Silver medal – second place 1998 Netherlands Team

Kjærgaard debuted on the Danish national team at only 18 years old. After the gold medal in Sydney, she retired from the national team, aged only 25. At that point, she had competed in 8 major international tournaments.[3]

Kjærgaard played her entire senior career at Ikast fS and is considered an icon for the club. She was part of 1997/1998 team to win the first Danish League in the club's history.[4] For a period she captained the team, and to this day her shirtnumber (no. 3) is taken out of use.[5] In 2021 she entered the club board.[6]

Today she is a high school teacher in Ikast.

References

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  1. ^ "1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Handball" Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback MachinedatabaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 25 February 2008)
  2. ^ "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Handball" Archived 2008-04-07 at the Wayback MachinedatabaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 25 February 2008)
  3. ^ Vilsbøl, Louise. "Husker du Tonje Kjærgaard? Her er hun i dag". www.herognu.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Fire årtier i bestyrelsen: Når noget står ens hjerte nær, kan man ikke lade stå til". Herning Folkeblad (in Danish). 26 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Tonje Kjærgaard". Europamester (in Danish). 31 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  6. ^ Kristiansen, Kenneth (26 January 2022). "Tilhørsforholdet til klubben er enormt: Én beslutning gjorde hende til Ikast-legende". Sport Herning (in Danish). Herning Folkeblad.