Gro Hammerseng-Edin (born 10 April 1980 in

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The ...

as Gro Hammerseng) is a Norwegian former

handballer Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic 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 throwing it into the g ...

who last played for the club Larvik HK. She was captain of the

Norwegian national team Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

for several years, and in 2007 she was voted female World Handball Player of the Year.

Club career

Hammerseng started her handball career in 1990 at Gjøvik HK (1990–1995). She later played one year for Raufoss IL (1995–1996) and one year for Vardal IF (1996–1997) before starting her senior career in 1997 for

Gjøvik og Vardal HK is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøv ...

(1997–2003). Hammerseng was Gjøvik og Vardal's captain during her six seasons with the club. In 2003, after serious economic problems at her hometown club, Hammerseng signed with Danish top club Ikast-Bording, since November 2008 called FC Midtjylland Håndbold. Gro stayed 7 years in Denmark playing for the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

club FC Midtjylland Håndbold, but on 17 February 2010 she signed under a 2-year contract with the Norwegian handball club Larvik HK. Gro has played for Larvik since the 2010/11 season and ended her career after the 2016/2017 season. Hammerseng-Edin retired from the sport of handball on 21 May 2017, after winning the

Grundigligaen REMA 1000-ligaen is the premier professional men's handball league in Norway. It was established in 1966, and it is currently contested by twelve teams. Sandefjord TIF is the championship's most successful team with nine titles, followed by Opps ...

finals with Larvik that day.

National team

Hammerseng made her debut with the

on 29 November 2000 against Poland in Bergen, Norway. Her first major tournament was the 2000 European Championship in Romania, where Norway finished sixth. She received a silver medal at the 2001 World Championship and at the 2002 European Championship. In December 2003, coach Marit Breivik made Hammerseng captain of the team, replacing fellow

native Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk. The 2003 World Championship was her first competition as captain, but Norway was not successful and finished the championship in sixth place, thus missing the opportunity to participate in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. The 2004 European Championship brought her first gold medal with the team. Hammerseng saw her performance recognized as she was voted MVP and member of the All-Star Team of the tournament. After a serious knee injury kept her out of the court in the 2005/06 season, Gro Hammerseng repeated her 2004 success at the 2006 European Championship in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She received her second gold medal and was again named MVP and member of the All-Star Team of the tournament. At the 2007 World Championship, Norway was defeated by Russia in the final match, marking the third silver medal for Hammerseng. She was voted into the All-Star Team as best left back. The

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

gave the Norwegians an opportunity for revenge, as they met Russia in the final match. After a comfortable 34–27 win, Hammerseng received her first Olympic gold medal. As of 22 December 2010, she has played 167 games for Norway, scoring 631 goals.

Awards and recognition

2004 * MVP - European Championship 2004 (Awarded in December 2004) * All-Star Team: European Championship 2004 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2004) 2005 * All-Star Team: Danish League 2004/05 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in May 2005) 2006 * MVP - European Championship 2006 (Awarded in December 2006) * All-Star Team: European Championship 2006 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2006) * ‘Role model’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2007) * ’Team Player’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2007) 2007 * ‘Snill Pike Statuetten’ - Norwegian media photographers (Awarded in March 2007) * World Handball Player of the Year - Readers of ''World Handball Magazine'' and the International Handball Federation web site visitors. (Awarded in September 2008) * All-Star Team: World Championship 2007 - Best Left Back - (Awarded in December 2007) 2008 * Casparprisen - Gjøvik City (Awarded in August 2008) 2009 * ’Player of the Year’ voted by the Ikast-fans (Awarded in May 2009) 2010 * All-Star Team: European Championship 2010 - Best Playmaker - (Awarded in December 2010) * ’Team Player’ of the year, Norwegian Sports Gala (Awarded in January 2011)

Personal life

Hammerseng was in a long-term cohabiting relationship with fellow Larvik HK and

player Katja Nyberg. In August 2010, they announced that they had split up even though they would continue to play together for Larvi

Gro Hammerseng began a new relationship with Larvik teammate

Anja Edin Anja Hammerseng-Edin (born 5 February 1983) is a former Norwegian handball player. She previously played for Larvik HK and for the Norwegian national team. Career Hammerseng-Edin made her début on the Norwegian national team in 2006, and pla ...

in the summer of 2010. They married in 2013. Hammerseng gave birth to their first son, Mio in 2012 and their second son, Leo in 2018. In 2014, Hammerseng and her wife published their book, ''Anja + Gro = Mio'', which is about having a child as a lesbian couple. In the lead-up to the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Hammerseng joined other Norwegian athletes in an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

campaign for human rights in the People's Republic of China.

Results

Norway

Olympic Games *Gold: 2008 World Championship *Silver: 2001, 2007 European Championship *Gold: 2004, 2006, 2010 *Silver: 2002

FC Midtjylland Håndbold

Danish Championship *Silver: 2007/08 *Bronze: 2003/04, 2004/05 Danish Cup (DM) *Silver: 2003, 2004 Cup Winners' Cup *Gold: 2003/04

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. Previ ...

*Silver: 2006/07

Larvik HK

Norwegian League *Gold: 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 Norwegian Cup (NM) *Gold: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Norwegian Play-off *Gold: 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 Champions League *Gold: 2010/11 *Silver: 2012/13, 2014/15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammerseng, Gro 1980 births Living people Expatriate handball players Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen Norwegian LGBT sportspeople LGBT handball players Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Norwegian female handball players Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic handball players of Norway Olympic medalists in handball Sportspeople from Gjøvik Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics