Helle Thomsen steps down as Swedish national coach

After only a bit more than a year in the job, Helle Thomsen has decided to step down as coach of Sweden's national women's team with immediate effect.

“The decision is entirely my own, and the feeling in my stomach told me that this was the right thing to do,” explains Helle Thomsen who has been sharing the job with former Swedish international Thomas Sivertsson.

Helle Thomsen, who is leaving the job a year before her contract was due to expire, wants to concentrate one hundred per cent on her other job as head coach by Danish women's champions FC Midtjylland.

“It has been fantastic to work with the Swedish national team this past year, and I hope that this is not a farewell, but a see you again. The national team has given me even more European experience, than I already had, and great experiences, and I am thankful for that,” says Helle Thomsen who won the bronze medal with Sweden at the EHF EURO 2014 in Hungary and Croatia.

The Swedish Handball Federation regrets Helle Thomsen's decision.

“Of course, it is extremely sad that Helle has chosen to stop, as we really wanted to keep her,” says former Swedish international Sara Holmgren who is now manager of the female national team.

“We have done everything we could to persuade her to stay, but of course, we respect the decision she had made,” adds Sara Holmgren.

For the time being, the federation is not going to look for a replacement for Helle Thomsen, so Thomas Sivertsson is carrying on alone.

“I would have liked to continue working with Helle, but I respect her decision. Now we continue to focus on the World Championship in Denmark in December, where we hope to be in the race for the medals. After that, we can look forward to an exciting 2016 with Olympic qualifiers, hopefully Olympics in Brazil and a European championship at home,” says Thomas Sivertsson.