Heidi Løke

Heidi Loke
Løke in 2011
Personal information
Born (1982-12-12) 12 December 1982 (age 42)
Tønsberg, Norway
Nationality Norwegian
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Pivot
Club information
Current club Larvik HK
Number 55
Senior clubs
Years Team
0000–2000
 IL Runar
2000–2002
 Larvik HK
2002–2007
 Gjerpen IF
2007–2008
 Aalborg DH
2008–2011
 Larvik HK
2011–2017
 Győri ETO KC
2017–2019
 Storhamar HE
2019–2022
 Vipers Kristiansand
2022–
 Larvik HK
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2020
 Norway 226 (801)
Medal record
Women's handball
Representing  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2011 Brazil
Gold medal – first place 2015 Denmark
Silver medal – second place 2017 Germany
Bronze medal – third place 2009 China
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2008 Macedonia
Gold medal – first place 2010 Denmark/Norway
Gold medal – first place 2014 Croatia/Hungary
Gold medal – first place 2020 Denmark
Silver medal – second place 2012 Serbia

Heidi Løke (born 12 December 1982) is a Norwegian handball player for Larvik HK and formerly the Norwegian national team.[1]

Among her achievements as club player are national championships, a silver medal in the EHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup, and winner of the EHF Women's Champions League several times.

Career

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Club career

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Løke was born in Tønsberg and grew up in Sandefjord[2] where she started to play handball at the age of ten. She played for Runar, Larvik, Gjerpen and Aalborg DH before she again played for Larvik between 2008 and 2011. She was top scorer in the Norwegian League in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, and was selected Player of the Year in the league both in 2008/2009 and in 2009/2010. Her club won gold medals in both the League and the Cup in 2008/2009, and again in 2009/2010. With Larvik she reached the final in the EHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup in 2008/2009, winning the silver medal. Her club reached the semifinal in the EHF Women's Champions League in 2009/2010.

On 29 November 2010 it was rumored that she would sign with top Hungarian team Győri ETO KC, but Løke refused to comment on the speculations until the forthcoming European Championship were over.[3]

Few weeks later, on 31 December 2010, it was announced that Løke had agreed a two-years contract with Győr and would join her new club after the ongoing season was finished. As Larvik's general manager Bjørn-Gunnar Bruun Hansen revealed, they were in negotiation talks with Løke for a while, but the excellent line player got an offer they simply could not match.[4] Shortly after her signing with Györ, Larvik's head coach Karl Erik Bøhn was dismissed from his job, due to his role in the events.[5][6]

On 1 March 2012 Løke was given the IHF World Player of the Year award in recognition of her performances throughout 2011 both on club and international level.[7]

International career

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Løke made her debut in the Norwegian national team on 7 April 2006 against Hungary.[8] She participated on the Norwegian team that won gold medals at the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship in Macedonia. She won a bronze medal with the Norwegian team at the 2009 World Women's Handball Championship in Beijing. At the 2010 European Women's Handball Championship she won a gold medal with the Norwegian team, and was selected into the All-Star team as best line player of the tournament.[9] The next year, at the World Championship, she repeated this success, collecting both the gold medal and earning a place in the All-Star team.[10]

Personal

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Heidi is not the only professional handballer in the Løke family. Her older brother, Frank Løke was also a former international handballer as well as a player for the Norwegian national team.[11] Her sister, Lise Løke is a player for Larvik HK.

She had a relationship with her former coach Leif Gautestad,[12] with whom she had a son, Alexander,[13][14] born in 2007. The couple separated in 2010.

Former partner of the now deceased handball coach Karl Erik Bøhn.

Gave birth to her second son, Oscar on 30 June 2017, with new boyfriend Bjørn Vestrum Olsson. She was back in training six days later,[15] and attended her first handball training for her new club Storhamar HE only 25 days after she gave birth.[16]

Her third son, Casper was born on 23 April 2022 from partner Stian Bodin Sundal.[17]

Achievements

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  • World Championship:
    • Winner: 2011, 2015
    • Silver Medalist: 2017
    • Bronze Medalist: 2009
  • European Championship:
    • Winner: 2008, 2010, 2014, 2020
    • Silver Medalist: 2012
  • Summer Olympics:
    • Winner: 2012
    • Bronze Medalist: 2016
  • EHF Champions League:
    • Winner: 2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2016/2017, 2020/2021
    • Finalist: 2011/2012, 2015/2016
    • Semifinalist: 2009/2010
  • EHF Cup Winners' Cup:
    • Finalist: 2009
    • Semifinalist: 2006
  • Norwegian Championship:
    • Winner: 2008/2009 (Larvik), 2009/2010 (Larvik), 2010/2011 (Larvik), 2019/2020 (Vipers), 2020/2021 (Vipers)
    • Silver medalist: 2018/2019 (Storhamar)
  • Norwegian Cup:
    • Winner: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020
    • Finalist: 2018
  • Nemzeti Bajnokság I:
    • Winner: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
  • Magyar Kupa:
    • Winner: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Awards and recognition

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  • Top Scorer of Eliteserien: 2008/2009 (216 goals), 2009/2010 (204 goals), 2010/2011 (221 goals)
  • Best Player of Eliteserien: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011
  • All Star Line Player of Eliteserien: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2019/2020,[18] 2020/2021[19]
  • EHF Champions League Top Scorer: 2011 (99 goals)
  • All-Star Line Player of the European Championship: 2010, 2012,[20] 2014
  • All-Star Line Player of the World Championship: 2011, 2015
  • IHF World Player of the Year: 2011 (also nominated for 2012)
  • All Star Line Player of the Summer Olympics: 2012, 2016
  • All-Star Team Best Line Player of the EHF Champions League: 2014/2015; 2015/2016[21]
  • Foreign Handballer of the Year in Hungary: 2015
  • All-Star Line player of Møbelringen Cup: 2018[22]

References

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  1. ^ EHF profile
  2. ^ Hansen, Ole Jonny Eriksrud (16 December 2012). "- Alt dette er en del av livet, dessverre" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Løke stikker fra Larvik" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet.no. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Heidi Løke klar for Györ" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet.no. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  5. ^ Bakkehaug, Wegard (3 January 2011). "Bøhn ferdig som Larvik-trener". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  6. ^ Overvik, Jostein (6 January 2011). "Grunnleggende menneskerett å være med sin elskede. Bøhn ikke enig med Larvik – saken til retten". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Heidi Løke and Mikkel Hansen World Handball Players of the Year 2011". International Handball Federation. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Landslagsprofiler – Heidi Løke" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation (www.handball.no). Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  9. ^ "EHF Euro 2010. All Star Team announced". European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Heja Norge: Norway World Champion 2011!". International Handball Federation. 18 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Landskampstatistikk. Totaloversikt for Løke, Frank" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation (www.handball.no). Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  12. ^ Hole, Arne (8 December 2009). "Hun takker mannen". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  13. ^ Bucher Hansen, Tom (31 December 2010). "Løke forlater Larvik". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  14. ^ Bergsli, Bent (14 December 2010). "Verdens aller beste". Telemarksavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Løke tilbake i trening seks dager etter fødselen" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Babylykke for Heidi Løke – Oscar (25 dager) med på første trening" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  17. ^ "Heidi Løke har blitt mamma igjen – Avslører navnet" (in Norwegian). sosialnytt.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Suverene Heidi ble Årets linjespiller". NHF (in Norwegian). Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Årets lag og priser i REMA 1000-ligaen for kvinner". NHF (in Norwegian). Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  20. ^ "All Star Team announced". European Handball Federation. 16 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  21. ^ "EHF Champions League 2014/15 – All-stars take to the court at the 2015 MVM EHF FINAL4". ehfcl.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  22. ^ "All-Star Team" (in Norwegian). handball.no. 25 November 2018.
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