Amandine Leynaud


Amandine Suzanne Monique Leynaud is a former French professional handball player. She is openly lesbian and she and her wife Annabelle are parents to Marcel and Mila. She is currently the goalkeeping coach of the France women's national [handball team|French national handball team].

Career

She competed at the Handball at the [2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2008], Handball at the [2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2012] and Handball at the [2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2016] and won a silver medal in 2016, finishing fifth in 2008 and 2012. Domestically she was named the Best Goalkeeper in French Division 1 in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
At the 2008 Olympics, both Leynaud and teammate Valérie Nicolas were listed among the top goalkeepers in the competition. After Nicolas retired from the national team, Leynaud's status as the starting goalkeeper was secured. At the 2012 Olympics, Leynaud was listed third among the top ten goalkeepers of the championship with a rate of 38%.
For the 2012–13 season, Leynaud signed for Romanian top club CS Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea but failed to play any official match after she suffered a ligaments injury to the right ankle in August 2012, which required surgery. The team was disbanded at the end of the season due to financial difficulties. Due to her injury Leynaud also missed the 2012 European Championships.
From 2013 until 2018, she played for ŽRK Vardar. Together with them, she played in the Final Four five times in a row, finishing third three-times and reaching the final twice.
In 2018, she joined the star-studded Hungarian team, Győr. Since 2020, she also served as the goalkeeper coach of the team until 2022, when she retired. One year after she has ended her career she returned to Győr because of Silje Solberg's pregnancy.

Personal life

She is raising their twins, Marcel and Mila, together with her wife, Annabelle.

Achievements

Individual awards