Lene Rantala

Lene Rantala is a Danish former handball player and handball coach, two times Olympic champion and a World champion. Rantala was assistant coach for Vipers Kristiansand in the Norwegian REMA 1000-ligaen until the bankruptcy of the club

Career

During her career she played for Frederiksberg IF and Brabrand in Denmark, before moving to Norway in 1994 to join Toten HK. In 1996 she joined IK Junkeren, where she played for a single season before joining Larvik HK. Here so won 40 titles with the club over a 17-year period. In 2014 she retired at the age of 45 to become a goalkeeping coach at the club. In December 2024 she made a short comeback due to the injury of Larvik goalkeeper Alma Hasanić.

National team

She debuted on the Danish national team on 14 February 1991, and has since played 226 matches for Denmark. This makes her the 3rd most tenured player on the Danish Women's national team ever behind fellow goalkeeper Karin Mortensen and Janne Kolling. She also has the record for the oldest player on the Danish national team ever with 42 years and 307 days. She has won numerous medals with the team, notably including two Olympic gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Personal life

Rantala is of Finnish descent through her paternal grandmother.