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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Tonje Kjærgaard Jensen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Silkeborg, Denmark | 11 June 1975|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
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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
edit- ^ "1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States – Handball" Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine – databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 25 February 2008)
- ^ "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Handball" Archived 2008-04-07 at the Wayback Machine – databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 25 February 2008)
- ^ Vilsbøl, Louise. "Husker du Tonje Kjærgaard? Her er hun i dag". www.herognu.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Fire årtier i bestyrelsen: Når noget står ens hjerte nær, kan man ikke lade stå til". Herning Folkeblad (in Danish). 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Tonje Kjærgaard". Europamester (in Danish). 31 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Kristiansen, Kenneth (26 January 2022). "Tilhørsforholdet til klubben er enormt: Én beslutning gjorde hende til Ikast-legende". Sport Herning (in Danish). Herning Folkeblad.