Kevin Christopher Hansen (born March 19, 1982) is an American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player. He made his

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics with the U.S. national team.

Personal life

Hansen was born and raised in Newport Beach, California. He attended high school at

Corona del Mar Corona del Mar (Spanish for "Crown of the Sea") is a seaside neighborhood in the city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all the land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as ...

and was named the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

(CIF) Most Valuable Player in 2000 and led the volleyball team to the CIF Division I Championship the same season. Hansen is a type I diabetic, first diagnosed when he was 10 years old, and must inject himself with insulin at least four times a day.Mattson, Jim.
USA Olympic star battles diabetes
" HOI News (retrieved on August 23, 2008).

College

Hansen continued on to Stanford University from 2000-2005 (as he

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year), and majored in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. He finished his career third on Stanford's list of career leaders with 5,036 assists, thus becoming just the third player in Stanford men's volleyball history to eclipse 5,000 career assists. He was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) First-Team All-American as a fifth year senior in 2005.

U.S. national team

Hansen joined the U.S. national team in June 2005, primarily as the backup setter to veteran

Lloy Ball Lloy James Ball (born February 17, 1972, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American volleyball player, a member of American national team in 1993–2008, a participant of the Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) and gold medalist ...

International competition

In 2008, he played at the

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wom ...

, where Team USA won the gold medal. In 2007, he participated in Americas' Cup, earning a gold medal, the Pan American Games, earning a silver medal, and the

, earning a bronze medal. His first major international competition was in 2005 at the World University Games.

Olympics

Hansen made his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Kevin 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport Beach, California American men's volleyball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Stanford University alumni Stanford Cardinal men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games PAOK V.C. players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in volleyball People with type 1 diabetes Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Setters (volleyball)