Bojana Popović

Bojana Popović née Petrović, (born 20 November 1979)^[1] is a handball coach and a retired Montenegrin handballer. She is considered by many to be the best female handball player of the 2000's, despite not being given any official recognition.^[2] After winning the Women's EHF Champions League with Budućnost^[3] and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games with the Montenegro national team,^[4] Bojana Popović decided to retire from handball. However, in June 2016 Popović announced she would come out of retirement and make herself available for selection by the Montenegro national handball team to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.^[5][6][7]

Bojana Popović
Personal information
Born	(1979-11-20) 20 November 1979 (age 45) Niš, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Montenegrin
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Left back
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1994–1998	RK DIN Niš
1998–2002	ŽRK Budućnost
2002–2007	Slagelse DT
2007–2010	Viborg HK
2010–2012	ŽRK Budućnost
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2016	Montenegro	61	(315)
Teams managed
2020–	Budućnost (Head coach)
2021–2024	Montenegro (Head coach)
Medal record Representing  Montenegro Olympic Games 2012 London Team Representing  Yugoslavia World Championships 2001 Italy

Career

Bojana Popović started playing handball at Serbian club HC Naisa Niš when she was eleven years old.^[1] She later played for Montenegrin club Budućnost Podgorica for four seasons.^[8] In 2002, Popović signed a contract with Danish team Slagelse DT, at that time coached by Anja Andersen. With Slagelse, she experienced great success: three times Champions League winner, EHF Cup winner, three Danish Championship golds and one Danish Cup.

At the end of the 2006/07 season, Popović signed a contract with Viborg HK.^[9] Since her arrival at Viborg, she has won two Danish Championship golds and two Danish Cups. In 2009 she won her fourth Champions League title, the first with Viborg.

Achievements

National team

Bronze medal EC 2022 as a coach of Montenegro NT

• Olympic Games:
  • Silver Medalist: 2012
• World Championship:
  • Bronze Medalist: 2001

European

• EHF Champions League:
  • Winner: 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2011/2012
• EHF Cup:
  • Winner: 2002/2003

Domestic

• Damehåndboldligaen:
  • Winner: 2002/2003, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009, 2009/2010
• Danish Cup:
  • Winner: 2001/2002, 2006/2007, 2007/2008
• Serbian and Montenegrin Championship:
  • Winner: 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002
• Serbian and Montenegrin Cup:
  • Winner: 2000, 2001, 2002
• Prva Liga:
  • Winner: 2010/2011, 2011/2012
• Montenegrin Cup:
  • Winner: 2011, 2012

Awards and recognition

During her handball career, Bojana Popović was considered to be the best player in the world by many.^[8][9][10] She has been chosen Player of the Year by the Danish Handball Federation four times. Popović's individual awards and achievements include:

• Player of the year in Denmark in 2004, 2005, 2007^[9] and 2008^[11]
• Topscorer of the Danish League 2003/04 and 2004/05^[12]
• Topscorer of the Champions League in 2004, 2005 and 2007^[13]
• "Cup Fighter" (Danish: Pokalfighter) 2008^[14]
• Montenegrin Sportsperson of the Year: 2012
• EHF Hall of Fame in 2023.^[15]