MVP Lunde adds another trophy to her stellar cabinet

The 43-year-old Vipers Kristiansand and Norway goalkeeper was integral for both teams during the two major competitions she played in, being the player with the largest number of saves in the EHF Champions League Women – 197 – and had 43 saves for a 31% saving efficiency during the Women’s EHF EURO 2022.

In both cases, Lunde’s teams won the trophy, a testament of the leadership, skill and resilience of the Norway goalkeeper, who has always been a shining star for the team she played for.

At the EHF Excellence Awards Gala in Vienna, Lunde also received the goalkeeper of the season award, as well as the MVP award, another excellent accolade to add to her star-studded CV.

“I am really, really proud to receive these awards, I really enjoy playing handball, and I want to thank everybody who helped me be on the court and helped me keep playing handball at this age,” said Lunde, in a video message, after receiving the MVP award.

The 43-year-old goalkeeper, born and bred in Kristiansand, started handball at her local club, Våg Vipers, which eventually rebranded as Vipers Kristiansand, and moved in 2004, when she was 24 years old, to Denmark, to play for Aalborg DH.

After three years spent at Aalborg, Lunde moved to Viborg HK, where she won the EHF Champions League Women for the first time, in 2009, adding another trophy in the European top competition in 2010.

The next two EHF Champions League Women trophies were won with Györi Audi ETO KC in 2013 and 2014, as Lunde returned in 2017 to Vipers Kristiansand, with an eye on retirement, hoping to bow off in style exactly from the team where everything started.

Six years later, there are no signs of retirement, as Lunde continues to be one of the most emblematic figures in the sport, as she broke the record for number of titles won both in the EHF Champions League Women and at the EHF EURO, seriously being considered as one of the top players in the history of handball.

“I want to thank also all of my teammates, from Vipers and from Norway, because they still make me enjoy training and being around a handball team. I want also to thank my family, because I get all the help I can to be both a mother and a handball player,” said Lunde.

Lunde, who was the All-Star goalkeeper at the EHF EURO in 2008, 2010 and 2012 and in the EHF Champions League Women in 2019, has 43 titles to her name, with 10 secured with the national team, six gold medals at the EHF EURO and two each at the IHF Women’s World Championship and at the Olympic Games.