Katja Nyberg

For the politician, see Katja Nyberg (politician).

Katja Nyberg
Nyberg in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg
Born	(1979-08-24) 24 August 1979 (age 44) Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Norwegian
Height	1.83 m (6.0 ft) [1]
Playing position	Left back
Youth career
Years	Team
0000–1997	Sparta IF
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1997–1998	Stockholmspolisens
1998–2005	Larvik HK
2005–2006	Krim Ljubljana
2006–2010	FC Midtjylland
2010–2012	Larvik HK
National team 1
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2008	Norway	99 [2]	(321)
Medal record Women's handball Representing   Norway Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Team World Championship 2007 France Team European Championship 2004 Hungary Team 2006 Sweden Team 2002 Denmark Team
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 31 December 2008

Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg (born 24 August 1979) is a naturalized Norwegian former handball player. 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 in Beijing 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.

Career

Early years

Katja Nyberg is the daughter of Robert Nyberg, the first Finnish handball player to play professionally abroad. ^[3] She was born in Stockholm while Robert was living in Sweden. The family later relocated to Finland where she grew up. ^[4] Nyberg played sports from an early age, mainly javelin throw and other athletics varieties. She started her handball career in Helsinki 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 for one season (1997–1998), then signed a contract with Norwegian club Larvik HK 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. ^{[5] [6]} She also won the Cup Winners' Cup 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. ^[7]

In 2005, Nyberg signed a one-year contract with Slovenian champion Krim Ljubljana. ^[8] However, her season in Ljubljana 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. ^[9] By that time, her relationship with Gro Hammerseng 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, where Hammerseng was already playing. ^{[10] [11] [12]} Nyberg lived in Denmark and played for FC Midtjylland Håndbold for 4 years (2006–2010). On 17 February 2010, she signed a two-year contract with her former club Larvik HK and has played for them since the 2010/11 season. ^[13]

National team

Katja Nyberg gained Norwegian citizenship on 16 January 2001 ^[14] and made her debut with the national team on 23 March 2001 against France. She was not allowed to play for Norway in official tournaments until 2002 ^[15] because she had competed at the 1999 Junior World Championship qualification for Finland.

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 and 2006 European Championships.

Nyberg missed the 2005 World Championship due to the shoulder injury she suffered in Ljubljana, ^[9] but she was with the team two years later when Norway won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championship in France. She was also voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament. ^[16] Apart from this individual recognition, one of her biggest achievements with the national team to date was winning the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. ^{[17] [18]}

Nyberg played a total of 99 games and scored 321 goals for Norway between 2001 and 2008. ^[2]

National Handball Team results

NORWEGIAN NATIONAL TEAM

European Championship:

• Gold: 2004, 2006,
• silver in 2002

World Championship:

• Silver: 2007

Summer Olympics:

• Gold: 2008 ^[17]

Club Handball results

With: Larvik HK

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 ^[5] and 2005 ^[6]
• Most Valuable Player at the 2007 World Championship ^[16]
• Honorary member of the Finnish Handball Federation ^[19]
• Honorary member of Sparta IF ^[19]

References

1. "Athlete Biography: Nyberg, Katja". Beijing 2008. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
2. "Katja Nyberg" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
3. "Katjas suksessoppskrift" (in Norwegian). Speaker.no. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
4. "Handbolls-EM 2006 - Grupp B: Norge" (in Swedish). sr.se. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
5. "Årets beste håndballspiller" (in Norwegian). Østlands Posten. 5 May 2001. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
6. "Årets spiller" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
7. "Følg Linka til tusen søndag" (in Norwegian). Larvik HK. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Katja til Krim med åpen retur" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 4 January 2005. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
9. "Nyberg mister VM" (in Norwegian). Demokraten. 31 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
10. Løsnæs, Elisabeth (21 November 2005). "Katja og Gro møtte dansk klubb" (in Norwegian). Østlands-Posten. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
11. Christiansen, Anders K. (30 November 2005). "Superduoen velger Ikast" (in Norwegian). VG NETT. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
12. Jørgensen, Jeanette; Jarle Fredagsvik (14 December 2005). "Norsk supertrio til Ikast" (in Norwegian). VG NETT. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
13. "Strong duo reinforces Larvik". www.eurohandball.com. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
14. "Katja Nyberg på landslaget" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. 13 March 2001. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
15. "Katja Nyberg først klar for Norge våren 2002" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. 18 June 2001. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
16. "All Star csapatban" (in Hungarian). handball.hu. 16 December 2007. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
17. "Olympic Gold for Norway - crushed Russia 34-27" (in Norwegian). Norway Post. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
18. "Women's Gold Medal Match - Match 42 / Norway vs Russian Fed". Beijing 2008. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 26 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
19. "Katja Nyberg - Sparta" (in Finnish). Sparta IF. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.

External links

• Katja Nyberg at the European Handball Federation
• Katja Nyberg at the Norwegian Handball Federation (in Norwegian)
• Katja Nyberg at Olympics.com
• Katja Nyberg at Olympedia