Katrine Fruelund

Katrine Fruelund (born 12 July 1978 in Randers, Midtjylland)^[1] is a former Danish team handball player and politician. She is two times Olympic champion, winning gold medals with the Danish national team in 2000 and 2004.

Katrine Fruelund
Personal information
Full name	Katrine Fruelund
Born	(1978-07-12) 12 July 1978 (age 47) Randers, Denmark
Nationality	Danish
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Left Back
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs
Years	Team
0000–1999	Randers HK
1999–2005	Viborg HK
2005–2006	HC Leipzig
2006–2012	Randers HK
2013–2014	Randers HK
National team 1
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2012	Denmark	184	(570)
Medal record Women's handball Representing  Denmark Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team 2004 Athens Team European Championship 2002 Denmark Team 1998 Netherlands Team
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 3 June 2012

After her active career she has taken part in local politics in Randers.

Personal life

Fruelund was born in Randers on 12 July 1978.^[2] Her younger brother, Mikael Fruelund, is also a former professional handball player.^[3]

Sports career

She received gold medals with the Danish national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney^[4] and at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.^[5] She stopped playing for the Danish national team in 2008, but unretired for a single match in 2012.^[6][7] She ended her playing career in 2014.^[8]

During her career she was one of the dominant players on the Danish National Team, especially at the 2004 Olympics, where she was player of the match and top scorer in the final against South Korea.^[9] She has played the fifth most matches on the Danish national team of all time.^[10]

Post playing career

After her playing career, she continued to be involved with handball as a talent scout for her childhood club Randers HK. In 2020 she became the assistant trainer for the Danish U-19 national team, and a year later for the Danish U-17 national team.^[11]

Political career

In 2013 Katrine Fruelund was elected to the Randers Municipality Council representing the centre-right party Venstre. At the 2017 Danish local elections, she received the third most votes in Randers Municipality.^[12]

In 2018 she announced that she intended to run for the European Parliament for Venstre at the 2019 European Parliament election.^[13] However early in 2019 she withdrew her candidacy, citing the desire to spend time with her family as the reason.^[14] She did however continue as a politician in the Randers Local Council until the 2021 Danish local elections.^[12]

Achievements

Club

• Damehåndboldligaen:
  • Winner: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2012
  • Silver Medalist: 2010, 2011
• Landspokalturneringen:
  • Winner: 2003
• Bundesliga:
  • Winner: 2006
• DHB-Pokal:
  • Winner: 2006
• EHF Cup:
  • Winner: 2004, 2010
• EHF Champions League:
  • Finalist: 2001

International

• Olympic Games:
  • Winner: 2000, 2004
• European Championship:
  • Winner: 2002
  • Silver Medalist: 1998