Rikke Erhardsen Skov (born 7 September 1980) is a former Danish team handball player and Olympic champion. She received a gold medal with the Danish national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

."2004 Summer Olympics – Athens, Greece – Handball"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on February 25, 2008) A loyal player of

Viborg HK Viborg HK (Viborg Håndbold Klub) is the name of a Danish handball club from Viborg. The club has many teams for both women and men, but especially the professional women's team is one of the most successful in Danish and European handball si ...

, Skov joined the club yet as a teenager in 1994 and it remained her lone team till she retired in 2016 and retired from active sports when she became pregnant in February 2017. In 2011, she was one of the five handballers, and the only woman who received The EHF Handball Award. The prize was handed out in the 20th anniversary of the European Handball Federation for the players who achieved the biggest successes both in club and international level.

Club career

Skov started her handball career in 1992, aged 12. She played for Overlund GF until she joined

in 1994. With Viborg, Skov has won numerous titles, both domestic and European. Her achievements include winning the Champions League in 2006, 2009 and 2010, the

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. Prev ...

in 1999 and 2004, four Danish Cups and seven Danish Championships.

National team

Rikke Skov 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 28 July 2000, and was appointed team captain in 2007. She received an Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004 and a silver medal at the 2004 European Championship. Skov first retired from international handball in April 2009, until when she played 107 matches and scored 296 goals. However, Skov later changed her mind and participated on the

2010 European Women's Handball Championship The 2010 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Denmark and Norway from 7–19 December. It was the first European Championship hosted by two countries. Norway won their overall 5th gold medal, when they defeated first time finalist ...

, where she reached the fourth place. In 2011, she continued to play for the national team and participated among others on the GF World Cup '11, but before the squad selection for the 2011 World Championship she withdrew from the team to focus fully on her club duties. On Friday 29 April she announced that she ended her national team career.

Results

* Champions League : Winner: 2006, 2009, 2010 : Finalist: 2001 * EHF Cup : Winner: 1999 and 2004 * Danish Championship : Gold: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 : Silver: 2007 : Bronze: 2005 * Danish Cup : Winner: 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008

Awards

*Danish national team player of the year ( da, Årets Landsholdsspiller) in 2006/07 and 2007/08 *Member of the All Star Team of the Møbelringen Cup 2008 *The EHF Handball Award winner (2011)

Personal life

Skov met fellow handballer Lotte Kiærskou as teammates for Viborg HK, and "never had any thought to keep their relationship secret."2012 Olympics: Who Are The LGBT Athletes? Day Twenty — Rikke Skov
They were in a registered partnership as allowed by Danish law. but split in 2011. Kiærskou, now retired, gave birth to the ex-couple’s two daughters. In 2017, Skov herself gave birth to a daughter fathered by her boyfriend, retired handball player Jakob Borrits Sabra. In 2005, Skov became a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skov, Rikke 1980 births Living people Danish female handball players Olympic gold medalists for Denmark Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Viborg HK players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of Denmark LGBT handball players Danish LGBT sportspeople Lesbian sportswomen