Linda Medalen

Linda Medalen

Personal information
Full name	Linda Medalen
Date of birth	(1965-06-17) 17 June 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Sandnes, Norway
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Forward, midfielder, defender
Youth career
	IL Brodd
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1986	Viking FK
1987–1992	Asker
1992–1998	Nikko Securities
1994	→ Klepp IL (loan)
1997	→ Asker (loan)
1998–2001	Asker
2003	Asker
2006	Asker
International career‡
1987–1999	Norway	152	(64)
Medal record Women's football Representing   Norway Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team World Cup Sweden 1995 Team China 1991 Team European Championship Italy 1993 Team Denmark 1991 Team Germany 1989 Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:07, 29 January 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:07, 29 January 2022 (UTC)

Linda Medalen (born 17 June 1965) is a former Norwegian footballer. She is one of Norway's most celebrated former footballers, finishing her international career with 152 caps, scoring 64 goals. ^[1] She was on the Norway team that won the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup.

She played most of her career in Norway with Asker Fotball, and retired in 2006, at 41 years old. She also spent seven seasons in Japan with Nikko. She started her career as a striker, but as her career progressed, she moved further back on the field, and was playing toward the end of her career in central defence.

Apart from playing football, Medalen worked as a police officer. In 2007, she was elected to serve as a local politician in Asker municipality council for the Conservative Party. ^[2] Medalen is openly lesbian, coming out in a Se og Hør article in June 1999. ^[3] On 16 June 2012, Medalen married Trude Flan. ^[4] She stands at 1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in).

Club career

In August 2000 Medalen revealed that she was considering an approach from the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), following contact from the nascent American professional league's vice president of playing personnel Lauren Gregg. ^[5]

Medalen was sent-off at half-time in the 2001 Norwegian Women's Cup final, for slapping away Gøril Kringen's hand during a disagreement. ^[6] The disappointment from Asker's 3–2 defeat was compounded as the final was intended to be Medalen's farewell appearance before her retirement from football. ^[7] In the 2003 Toppserien Medalen returned to Asker as a player-coach. ^[8] In 2006 41-year-old Medalen made another playing comeback and was selected for Asker's 3–2 Norwegian Women's Cup final defeat by Røa IL. ^[9]

International career

Medalen made her debut for the Norway women's national football team on 7 October 1987, in a 1–0 1989 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying defeat by Denmark women's national football team at the Ullevaal Stadion. ^[10]

At the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament, Medalen scored her first two national team goals in her fourth appearance; Norway's opening 4–0 win over Thailand in Jiangmen. She scored again in a 3–0 win over Australia, then scored the only goal in the final win over Sweden at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou. Medalen was named to the tournament All-Star team. ^[11]

Norway rebounded from their qualifying defeat by Denmark to qualify for the 1989 European Competition for Women's Football tournament. Medalen's first-minute goal in the 2–1 semi-final win over Sweden helped set up a final meeting with the West German hosts in Osnabrück, but reigning European champions Norway were beaten 4–1.

At UEFA Women's Euro 1991, Medalen's Norway reached the final again but were beaten by Germany, this time 3–1 after extra-time. This placing secured qualification for the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. Medalen scored six goals, including two in the semi-final win over Sweden and an equaliser in the 2–1 final defeat by the United States. She was awarded FIFA's "Bronze Ball" as the tournament's third best player.

In Norway's opening UEFA Women's Euro 1993 qualifying fixture, Medalen scored four times in a 10–0 win over Switzerland. At the UEFA Women's Euro 1993 final tournament Norway recaptured their European title, beating hosts Italy 1–0 in the final. In UEFA Women's Euro 1995 Norway missed out on a fifth successive final appearance, being eliminated in the semi-finals by Sweden, 7–5 on aggregate, despite Medalen's second-leg goal in Jönköping.

Medalen was an important player in the Norway team which won the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden.

At the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States, Medalen was Norway's captain. She also had a new role as a central defender, having struggled to adapt to incoming coach Per-Mathias Høgmo's possession-based tactics for his forwards. ^[12]

Medalen felt she had sufficiently recovered from a ligament injury to participate at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She was disappointed when Høgmo disagreed and left her out. ^[13] She was also disappointed at the withdrawal of her Norwegian Football Federation central contract worth 3500kr per month: "it was like getting a knife in the back". ^[14]

Personal life

Medalen came out as a lesbian in an interview with the Se og Hør gossip magazine in 1999, declaring: "I love a girl, it's not worse". ^[15] She brought her partner Kristin Bitnes to that year's FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States, but the couple separated after eight years together in 2006. ^[16] Medalen was part of an exceptionally strong Norwegian women's football selection at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney. ^[17] Medalen met dance instructor Trude Flan in 2010 and the two were married two years later. Medalen announced their separation in January 2022. ^[18]

In 1997 Medalen posed with a carefully-positioned football for semi-nude photographs in Se og Hør. It has been reported as evidence of sexism that Medalen earned 70000kr for the photographs but stood to earn only 27500kr if she had won that year's UEFA Women's Championship with Norway. ^{[19] [20]} Her cousin Rune Medalen played football for Tippeligaen clubs Bryne FK and Viking FK. ^[21]

In 2020 Medalen participated in the "Mesternes mester" (English: master of masters) reality television programme, screened on NRK. ^[22] In 2011 she had appeared in another reality television series, 71 Degrees North. TVNorge apologised to Medalen after broadcasting images of her topless without her consent. ^[23]

During her football career, Medalen was relatively outspoken. ^[24] She enjoyed Norway's rivalry with the United States team, frequently exchanging "trash-talk" with her friend Michelle Akers. ^[25] While her habit of scoring important goals against neighbours Sweden saw Medalen ruefully nicknamed "Svenskdöderskan" (English: the Swede killer) in Sweden. ^[7]

Career statistics

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 June 1988	Jiangmen, China	Thailand	?–0	4–0	1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament
2.				?–0
3.	6 June 1998		Australia	?–0	3–0
4.	12 June 1988	Guangzhou, China	Sweden	1–0	1–0
5.	21 August 1988	Klepp, Norway	England	1–0	2–0	1989 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying
6.	28 June 1989	Lüdenscheid, Germany	Sweden	1–0	2–1	1989 European Competition for Women's Football
7.	27 May 1990	Klepp, Norway	England	1–0	2–0	UEFA Women's Euro 1991 qualifying
8.	29 September 1991	Aarau, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	10–0	UEFA Women's Euro 1993 qualifying
9.				4–0
10.				5–0
11.				9–0
12.	19 November 1991	Guangzhou, China	New Zealand	2–0	4–0	1991 FIFA Women's World Cup
13.				3–0
14.	21 November 1991		Denmark	2–1	2–1
15.	27 November 1991		Sweden	2–1	4–1
16.				4–1
17.	30 November 1991		United States	1–1	1–2
18.	1 June 1993	Borås, Sweden	Sweden	2–2	2–4	Friendly
19.	16 October 1993	Bergen, Norway	Hungary	8–0	8–0	UEFA Women's Euro 1995 qualifying
20.	18 March 1994	Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal	Denmark	3–1	6–1	1994 Algarve Cup
21.	4 September 1994	Oslo, Norway	Finland	4–0	4–0	UEFA Women's Euro 1995 qualifying
22.	24 September 1994	Prague, Czech Republic	Czech Republic	3–0	8–0
23.				5–0
24.	4 March 1995	Jönköping, Sweden	Sweden	1–0	1–4	UEFA Women's Euro 1995
25.	16 March 1995	Quarteira, Portugal	Italy	?–?	3–1	1995 Algarve Cup
26.	17 March 1995	Portimão, Portugal	Sweden	1–0	2–0
27.	6 June 1995	Karlstad, Sweden	Nigeria	5–0	8–0	1995 FIFA Women's World Cup
28.	13 June 1995		Denmark	2–0	3–1
29.	19 September 1995	Ulefoss, Norway	Slovakia	1–0	17–0	UEFA Women's Euro 1997 qualifying
30.				8–0
31.				9–0
32.	2 May 1996	Jena, Germany	Germany	3–1	3–1
33.	6 July 1996	Kolbotn, Norway	Finland	2–0	7–0
34.				6–0
35.				7–0
36.	21 July 1996	Washington, D.C., United States	Brazil	1–0	2–2	1996 Summer Olympics
37.	23 July 1996		Germany	2–1	3–2
38.	25 July 1996		Japan	2–0	4–0
39.	28 July 1996	Athens, United States	United States	1–0	1–2 ( a.e.t. )
40.	21 March 1998	Loulé, Portugal	Denmark	4–0	4–1	1998 Algarve Cup
41.	16 March 1999	Quarteira, Portugal	Sweden	1–0	2–1	1999 Algarve Cup
42.	23 June 1999	Landover, United States	Canada	5–1	7–1	1999 FIFA Women's World Cup

Honours

^[26]

Asker

• Toppserien: 1988, 1991, 1998, 1999
• Norwegian Women's Cup: 1990, 1991, 2000

Nikko

• L. League: 1996, 1997, 1998
• Empress's Cup: 1992, 1996

Norway

• FIFA Women's World Cup: 1995
• UEFA Women's Championship: 1993

References

1. "FIFA". Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
2. Brevik, Christian (11 September 2007). "Disse er klare for Asker kommunestyre". Asker og Bærums Budstikke (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
3. Langholm, Dag (30 June 1999). "Linda står frem som lesbisk". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 September 2007.
4. Hagen, Per Erik (16 June 2012). "Giftet seg borgerlig på kirketrappen". Budstikka (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2014.
5. Johannesen, Henriette (25 August 2000). "700.000 i årslønn skal få fotballjenter til USA" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
6. Thoresen, Arne (4 November 2001). "- Tragisk for meg og laget" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
7. "Linda Medalen utvisad i avskedsmatch" (in Swedish). Damfotboll.com. 8 November 2001. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
8. "Medalen tilbake på banen" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 24 March 2003. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
9. Sandven, Arild (10 November 2006). "2001: Utvist i pausen - la opp 2006: 41 år og finaleklar igjen" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
10. "Medalen Linda". FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 October 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
11. Lewis, Tom (13 January 2011). "Women's FIFA Invitational Tournament 1988". RSSSF . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
12. Springer, Shira (20 June 1999). "Norway's star does it her way". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
13. Lien, Marius; Johnsen, Lars. "08 Gullrekka" (in Norwegian). Josimar. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
14. Thoresen, Arne (27 September 2000). "Linda fratatt lønna av NFF" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
15. Berntsen, Per Angell; Thoresen, Arne (1 July 1999). ""Jeg orker ikke leve i skjul lenger"" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
16. Haugtrø, Kjersti (4 April 2006). "Brudd med samboeren" (in Norwegian). Se og Hør . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
17. "Lesbe-landslaget!" (in Norwegian). VG. 3 May 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
18. Eriksson, Emma Cecilia (11 January 2022). "Avslører brudd" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
19. von der Lippe, Gerd (19 April 1999). "Det postmoderne kjønnssleppet" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
20. Hestad, Kari Mathilde (3 January 2007). "Kvinnelege idrettsutøvarar usynleggjorde i media" (in Norwegian). ABC Nyheter. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
21. Sjem, Sturla (12 March 1994). "Effektive Viking". VG (in Norwegian). p. 41.
22. Vinje, Marianne (10 August 2020). "Linda Medalen klar for "Mesternes mester"" (in Norwegian). Budstikka . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
23. Ekker, Bjørn (5 April 2011). "- TVNorge-sjefen ringte og beklaget" (in Norwegian). Se og Hør . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
24. Caparaz, Dean (22 June 1999). "Women's World Cup '99 Preview: Medalen aims at U.S." Soccer America . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
25. Jones, Grahame L. (16 June 1999). "U.S. Takes Aim at Top of the World". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 29 January 2022.
26. "FIFA World Star Team". Women Soccer. Archived from the original on 26 May 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2022.

External links

• Linda Medalen at Olympedia
• Linda Medalen at the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) (in Norwegian)