Heidi Løke

{{Infobox handball biography

| name = Heidi Løke

| image = Heidi Løke.jpg

| caption = Løke in 2011

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|12|12|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tønsberg, Norway

| nationality = Norwegian

| height = 1.73 m

| position = Pivot

| currentclub = IL Runar

| clubnumber =

| years1 = {{0|0000}}–2000

| clubs1 = IL Runar

| years2 = 2000–2002

| clubs2 = Larvik HK

| years3 = 2002–2007

| clubs3 = Gjerpen IF

| years4 = 2007–2008

| clubs4 = Aalborg DH

| years5 = 2008–2011

| clubs5 = Larvik HK

| years6 = 2011–2017

| clubs6 = Győri ETO KC

| years7 = 2017–2019

| clubs7 = Storhamar HE

| years8 = 2019–2022

| clubs8 = Vipers Kristiansand

| years9 = 2022–2025

| clubs9 = Larvik HK

| nationalyears1 = 2006–2020

| nationalteam1 = Norway

| nationalcaps1 = 226

| nationalgoals1 = 801

| manageryears1 = 2025–

| managerclubs1 = Poland (assistant)

| manageryears2 = 2025–

| managerclubs2 = IL Runar (women)

| show-medals = no

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{NOR}}}}

}}

Heidi Løke (born 12 December 1982) is a Norwegian handball player for Larvik HK and formerly the Norwegian national team.[https://www.eurohandball.com/en/player/lFsnsaw49fSFgVQSKzEtzw/heidi-loke/ EHF profile]

Among her achievements as club player are national championships, a silver medal in the EHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup, and winner of the EHF Women's Champions League several times.

Career

=Club career=

Løke was born in Tønsberg and grew up in Sandefjord{{cite news |url=http://www.nettavisen.no/sport/handball/article3532721.ece |language=no |title=- Alt dette er en del av livet, dessverre |publisher=Nettavisen |first=Ole Jonny Eriksrud |last=Hansen |date=16 December 2012 |access-date=17 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218044101/http://www.nettavisen.no/sport/handball/article3532721.ece |archive-date=18 December 2012 |url-status=dead }} where she started to play handball at the age of ten. She played for Runar, Larvik, Gjerpen and Aalborg DH before she again played for Larvik between 2008 and 2011. She was top scorer in the Norwegian League in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, and was selected Player of the Year in the league both in 2008/2009 and in 2009/2010. Her club won gold medals in both the League and the Cup in 2008/2009, and again in 2009/2010. With Larvik she reached the final in the EHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup in 2008/2009, winning the silver medal. Her club reached the semifinal in the EHF Women's Champions League in 2009/2010.

On 29 November 2010 it was rumored that she would sign with top Hungarian team Győri ETO KC, but Løke refused to comment on the speculations until the forthcoming European Championship were over.{{cite news |title=Løke stikker fra Larvik|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/11/29/sport/handball/heidi_loke/larvik/14505712/|publisher=Dagbladet.no |date=29 November 2010|access-date=1 January 2011|language=no}}

Few weeks later, on 31 December 2010, it was announced that Løke had agreed a two-years contract with Győr and would join her new club after the ongoing season was finished. As Larvik's general manager Bjørn-Gunnar Bruun Hansen revealed, they were in negotiation talks with Løke for a while, but the excellent line player got an offer they simply could not match.{{cite news |title=Heidi Løke klar for Györ|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/12/31/sport/handball/heidi_loke/14899922/|publisher=Dagbladet.no |date=31 December 2010|access-date=1 January 2011|language=no}} Shortly after her signing with Györ, Larvik's head coach Karl Erik Bøhn was dismissed from his job, due to his role in the events.{{cite news|title=Bøhn ferdig som Larvik-trener |url=http://www.vg.no/sport/haandball/artikkel.php?artid=10028698 |first=Wegard |last=Bakkehaug |newspaper=Verdens Gang |language=no |date=3 January 2011 |access-date=6 January 2011 }}{{cite news|title=Grunnleggende menneskerett å være med sin elskede. Bøhn ikke enig med Larvik – saken til retten |url=http://www.vg.no/sport/haandball/artikkel.php?artid=10037068 |first=Jostein |last=Overvik |newspaper=Verdens Gang |language=no |date=6 January 2011 |access-date=6 January 2011 }}

On 1 March 2012 Løke was given the IHF World Player of the Year award in recognition of her performances throughout 2011 both on club and international level.{{cite web|url=http://ihf.info//MediaCenter/News/NewsDetails/tabid/130/Default.aspx?ID=1008|title=Heidi Løke and Mikkel Hansen World Handball Players of the Year 2011|publisher=International Handball Federation|date=1 March 2012|access-date=1 March 2012}}

=International career=

Løke made her debut in the Norwegian national team on 7 April 2006 against Hungary.{{cite web|url=http://www.handball.no/Lprofiler.asp?LagId=6014&ProfilId=16302 |title=Landslagsprofiler – Heidi Løke |publisher=Norwegian Handball Federation (www.handball.no) |language=no |access-date=5 December 2008}} She participated on the Norwegian team that won gold medals at the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship in Macedonia. She won a bronze medal with the Norwegian team at the 2009 World Women's Handball Championship in Beijing. At the 2010 European Women's Handball Championship she won a gold medal with the Norwegian team, and was selected into the All-Star team as best line player of the tournament.{{cite web|url=http://www.ehf-euro.com/Singe-News.1705.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4107&cHash=b935eae59a |title=EHF Euro 2010. All Star Team announced |publisher=European Handball Federation |access-date=6 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222004918/http://www.ehf-euro.com/Singe-News.1705.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4107&cHash=b935eae59a |archive-date=22 December 2010 }} The next year, at the World Championship, she repeated this success, collecting both the gold medal and earning a place in the All-Star team.{{cite web|url=http://www.ihf.info/IHFCompetitions/WorldChampionships/WomensWorldChampionships/WomensWorldChampionship2011/News/NewsDetails/tabid/5824/Default.aspx?ID=972 |title=Heja Norge: Norway World Champion 2011! |publisher=International Handball Federation |date=18 December 2011 |access-date=19 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108064712/http://www.ihf.info/IHFCompetitions/WorldChampionships/WomensWorldChampionships/WomensWorldChampionship2011/News/NewsDetails/tabid/5824/Default.aspx?ID=972 |archive-date=8 January 2012 }}

Personal

Heidi is not the only professional handballer in the Løke family. Her older brother, Frank Løke was also a former international handballer as well as a player for the Norwegian national team.{{cite web|url=http://www.handball.no/Statistikk_Landskamper.asp?LagId=6012&SpillerId=104050&VS= |title=Landskampstatistikk. Totaloversikt for Løke, Frank |publisher=Norwegian Handball Federation (www.handball.no) |language=no |access-date=7 January 2011}} Her sister, Lise Løke is a player for Larvik HK.

She had a relationship with her former coach Leif Gautestad,{{cite news|title=Hun takker mannen |first=Arne |last=Hole |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/sport/handball/article3413012.ece |date=8 December 2009 |newspaper=Aftenposten |access-date=7 January 2011 |language=no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629171321/http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/sport/handball/article3413012.ece |archive-date=29 June 2011 }} with whom she had a son, Alexander,{{cite news |title=Løke forlater Larvik |first=Tom |last=Bucher Hansen |url=http://www.agderposten.no/article/20101231/SPORT/712319979/1062/SPORT |date=31 December 2010 |newspaper=Agderposten |access-date=7 January 2011 |language=no |archive-date=25 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325151103/http://www.agderposten.no/article/20101231/SPORT/712319979/1062/SPORT |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |title=Verdens aller beste | first=Bent |last=Bergsli |url=http://www.ta.no/sporten/article5415034.ece |date=14 December 2010|newspaper=Telemarksavisa |access-date=7 January 2011|language=no}} born in 2007. The couple separated in 2010.

Former partner of the now deceased handball coach Karl Erik Bøhn.

Gave birth to her second son, Oscar on 30 June 2017, with Bjørn Vestrum Olsson. She was back in training six days later,{{cite web|url=https://www.nrk.no/sport/loke-tilbake-i-trening-seks-dager-etter-fodselen-1.13592685 |title=Løke tilbake i trening seks dager etter fødselen |publisher=NRK|language=no |access-date=29 July 2017}} and attended her first handball training for her new club Storhamar HE only 25 days after she gave birth.{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/sport/haandball/babylykke-for-heidi-loeke-oscar-25-dager-med-paa-foerste-trening/a/24103086/ |title=Babylykke for Heidi Løke – Oscar (25 dager) med på første trening |publisher=Verdens Gang |language=no |access-date=29 July 2011}}

Her third son, Casper was born on 23 April 2022 from partner Stian Bodin Sundal.{{cite web|url=https://sosialnytt.com/heidi-loke-har-blitt-mamma-igjen-avslorer-navnet/|title=Heidi Løke har blitt mamma igjen – Avslører navnet|publisher=sosialnytt.com|accessdate=1 June 2022|language=Norwegian}}

Achievements

World Championship:
Winner: 2011, 2015
Silver Medalist: 2017
Bronze Medalist: 2009
European Championship:
Winner: 2008, 2010, 2014, 2020
Silver Medalist: 2012
Summer Olympics:
Winner: 2012
Bronze Medalist: 2016
EHF Champions League:
Winner: 2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2016/2017, 2020/2021
Finalist: 2011/2012, 2015/2016
Semifinalist: 2009/2010
EHF Cup Winners' Cup:
Finalist: 2009
Semifinalist: 2006
REMA 1000-ligaen:
Winner: 2008/2009 (Larvik), 2009/2010 (Larvik), 2010/2011 (Larvik), 2019/2020 (Vipers), 2020/2021 (Vipers)
Silver: 2018/2019 (Storhamar)
Bronze: 2024/2025 (Larvik)
Norwegian Cup:
Winner: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020
Finalist: 2018
Nemzeti Bajnokság I:
Winner: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
Magyar Kupa:
Winner: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Awards and recognition

Top Scorer of Eliteserien: 2008/2009 (216 goals), 2009/2010 (204 goals), 2010/2011 (221 goals)
Best Player of Eliteserien: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011
All Star Line Player of Eliteserien: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2019/2020,{{cite web|url=https://www.handball.no/nyheter/2020/05/suverene-heidi-ble-arets-linjespiller/|title=Suverene Heidi ble Årets linjespiller|website=NHF|access-date=30 May 2020|language=no}} 2020/2021{{cite web|url=https://www.handball.no/nyheter/2021/05/arets-lag-og-priser-i-rema-1000-ligaen-for-kvinner/|title=Årets lag og priser i REMA 1000-ligaen for kvinner|website=NHF|accessdate=26 May 2021|language=Norwegian}}
EHF Champions League Top Scorer: 2011 (99 goals)
All-Star Line Player of the European Championship: 2010, 2012,{{cite web|url=http://www.ehf-euro.com/Singe-News.2807.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=22141&cHash=3f5271d0e1d7bfa037c35e411167a017#.UM8UWV-Fws0 |title=All Star Team announced |publisher=European Handball Federation |date=16 December 2012 |access-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221012952/http://www.ehf-euro.com/Singe-News.2807.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=22141&cHash=3f5271d0e1d7bfa037c35e411167a017 |archive-date=21 December 2012 }} 2014
All-Star Line Player of the World Championship: 2011, 2015
IHF World Player of the Year: 2011 (also nominated for 2012)
All Star Line Player of the Summer Olympics: 2012, 2016
All-Star Team Best Line Player of the EHF Champions League: 2014/2015; 2015/2016{{cite web|url=http://www.ehfcl.com/women/2014-15/article/22184/All-stars+take+to+the+court+at+the+2015+MVM+EHF+FINAL4|publisher=ehfcl.com|title=EHF Champions League 2014/15 – All-stars take to the court at the 2015 MVM EHF FINAL4|access-date=22 August 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072921/http://www.ehfcl.com/women/2014-15/article/22184/All-stars+take+to+the+court+at+the+2015+MVM+EHF+FINAL4|archive-date=4 March 2016}}
Foreign Handballer of the Year in Hungary: 2015
All-Star Line player of Møbelringen Cup: 2018{{cite web|url=https://www.handball.no/nyheter/2018/11/all-star-team/|title=All-Star Team|publisher=handball.no|language=no|date=25 November 2018}}
European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurohandball.com/en/news/en/legendary-players-enter-the-hall-of-fame-of-european-handball/ |publisher=European Handball Federation|website=www.eurohandball.com|title=LEGENDARY PLAYERS ENTER THE HALL OF FAME OF EUROPEAN HANDBALL|date=26 June 2023|accessdate=27 June 2023}}