Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg (born 24 August 1979) is a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

Norwegian

handball 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 ...

player, currently retired. She played 99 games and scored 321 goals for the Norwegian national team during her career. With the Norwegian team she won a gold medal at 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 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and a silver medal at the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship in France, as well as two gold medals and one silver medal at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Career

Early years

Katja Nyberg is the daughter of Robert Nyberg, the first Finnish handball player to play professionally abroad. She was born in Stockholm while Robert was living in Sweden. The family later relocated to Finland where she grew up. Nyberg played sports from an early age, mainly

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

and other

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

varieties. She started her handball career in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

club Sparta IF with her father as coach.

Club career

Nyberg played for Sparta until she was 18. As handball in Finland was not competitive enough, she decided to pursue a professional career abroad. She first moved to Sweden where she played for

Stockholmspolisens IF Stockholmspolisens IF is a Sweden, Swedish swim team from Stockholm, Sweden founded in 1912. Stockholmspolisens IF also has departments in team handball, basketball, football (soccer), football, judo and, triathlon. The swimming department offers ...

for one season (1997–1998), then signed a contract with Norwegian club

Larvik HK Larvik Håndballklubb, is a women's handball club from Larvik, Norway. History Larvik HK was founded in 1990 as a merger of the handball departments in the two clubs Larvik Turn and Halsen. They played in the top division since 1992/93. During ...

and played there for 7 years (1998–2005). During her seven seasons in Larvik, Nyberg achieved great success. She was named ''Player of the Year'' of the Norwegian league in 2001 and 2005. She also won the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

in 2004/05 and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001/02 and 2003/04. By the time she left the club, she had scored an average of 6.65 goals per match, with 765 goals in 115 matches. In 2005, Nyberg signed a one-year contract with Slovenian champion Krim Ljubljana. However, her season in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

was prematurely ended in October of that year when she suffered a serious shoulder injury. It required surgery and kept her away from the handball court for nine months. By that time, her relationship with

Gro Hammerseng Gro Hammerseng-Edin (born 10 April 1980 in Gjøvik as Gro Hammerseng) is a Norwegian former handballer who last played for the club Larvik HK. She was captain of the Norwegian national team for several years, and in 2007 she was voted female ...

had already become public and both had expressed their desire to play for the same club. They received offers from other clubs, but ultimately chose

Ikast Ikast is a Denmark, Danish town in the Mid Jutland Region (''Midtjylland''). It is the seat of Ikast-Brande Municipality since 2007. It was the seat of the former Ikast Municipality. Geography The town is situated in the middle of Jutland. The ...

, where Hammerseng was already playing. Nyberg lived in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and played for

FC Midtjylland Håndbold FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

for 4 years (2006–2010). On 17 February 2010, she signed a two-year contract with her former club

and has played for them since the 2010/11 season.

National team

Katja Nyberg gained Norwegian citizenship on 16 January 2001 and made her debut with the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

on 23 March 2001 against France. She was not allowed to play for Norway in official tournaments until 2002 because she had competed at the 1999 Junior World Championship qualification for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Her first major competition as a Norwegian player was the 2002 European Championship where Norway received a silver medal. She then received a gold medal at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

European Championships. Nyberg missed the 2005 World Championship due to the shoulder injury she suffered in Ljubljana, but she was with the team two years later when Norway won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championship in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She was also voted

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the tournament. Apart from this individual recognition, one of her biggest achievements with the national team to date was winning the gold medal at the

. Nyberg played a total of 99 games and scored 321 goals for Norway between 2001 and 2008.

National Handball Team results

;NORWEGIAN NATIONAL TEAM European Championship: * Gold: 2004, 2006, * silver in 2002 World Championship: * Silver: 2007 Summer Olympics: * Gold: 2008

Club Handball results

With:

Norwegian League * Gold: 99/00, 00/01, 01/02, 02/03, 04/05 * Bronze: 03/04 Norwegian Cup * Gold: 99/00, 02/03, 03/04, 04/05 * Silver: 98/99 Norwegian Play-offs * Gold: 04/05 EHF Cup Winner's Cup *Gold: 04/05 EHF Champions League: * Semi-finalist: 01/02, 03/04 With: Ikast-Bording Elitehåndbold Danish League (DM): * Silver: 07/08 EHF Cup: * Silver: 06/07

Awards and recognition

* Player of the year of the Norwegian league in 2001 and 2005 *

at the 2007 World Championship * Honorary member of the Finnish Handball Federation * Honorary member of Sparta IF

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyberg, Katja 1979 births Living people Expatriate handball players Finnish emigrants to Norway Naturalised citizens of Norway Finnish female handball players Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen Norwegian LGBT sportspeople Finnish expatriates in Sweden Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Norwegian expatriates in Slovenia Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic handball players of Norway Norwegian female handball players Olympic medalists in handball Swedish-speaking Finns Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics LGBT handball players