Ulrik Wilbek is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 team handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

 coach. He has been head coach for the Danish men's national handball team

Denmark national handball team

The Denmark national handball team is the national handball team of Denmark. Controlled by the Danish Handball Association it represents Denmark in international matches....

 from 2005. He led the Danish team to win the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship

2008 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was held in Norway from 17–27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark won the tournament with Croatia second and France third....

 in Norway, and obtained silver at the 2011 World Men's Handball Championship

2011 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13–30 January, 2011...

 in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, and bronze medals both at the 2006 European Men's Handball Championship

2006 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2006 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was held in Switzerland from 26 January–5 February, in the cities of Basel, Berne, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zürich. France won the tournament, going through unbeaten after an early defeat to Spain...

 in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and at the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship

2007 World Men's Handball Championship

The 20th World Men's Handball Championship took place from January 19 to February 4, 2007 in Germany. 24 national teams played in 12 German cities.The tournament was won by Germany.-Stadiums:...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

He is married to former handball player Susanne Munk Lauritsen

Women's handball

Wilbek's first international successes came as coach for the Danish Women's national youth team in the late 1980s. Here he first coached players like Anja Andersen

Anja Andersen

Anja Andersen is a former female handball player and currently coach.-Career:Anja Andersen is known for both her skills as an offensive player, her strong temper and courage to make dramatic scenes and daring tricks during a match. She was an important part of the renaissance in Danish handball...

 and his wife-to-be Susanne Munk Lauritsen. A few years later, he was asked to be coach for the national A-team, which nearly was closed in the early 1990s due to bad results. Wilbek took the challenge and promoted a couple of the youth players, and the team had its first success as finalist in the 1993 World Women's Handball Championship

1993 World Women's Handball Championship

-Final standings:Source:...

, losing only after extra time.

In the following years, Wilbek was in the lead of the team, that became one of the most successful national handball teams of all times and at the same time one of the most popular teams in Danish sport. The team was European Champions in 1994 and won bronze medals at 1995 World Championship

1995 World Women's Handball Championship

The 1995 World Women's Handball Championship took place in Austria and Hungary from 1995.-Final standings:Source:...

. The peak of the team was reached at the end of 1997, when the team was reigning World Champions (1997)

1997 World Women's Handball Championship

-Final standings:Source:...

, European Champions (1996)

European Women's Handball Championship

The European Women's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Championship...

, and Olympic Champions (1996)

Handball at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Final results for the Handball competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics.-Medal summary:-References:*...

. This marked the end of Wilbek's career as coach for the women's national team, having won everything.

Club handball

Wilbek's initial work as a handball coach was in his own club, Virum Sorgenfri Håndboldklub, in 1985-88 (elite men). Just turned 30, he came to Viborg HK

Viborg HK

Viborg HK is the name of a Danish handball club from Viborg. The club has many teams for both women and men, but especially the professional women's team is one of the most successful in Danish and European handball since the beginning of the 1990s...

 as a coach for the ambitious women's team, which by then had just been promoted to the Danish top league. Within a few years, he led the club to their first medals (silver i 1991), and the Danish National team now wanted him as a coach for the women team.

After five extremely successful years as national coach, Wilbek again turned towards club coaching. He was reappointed as coach for Viborg HK's elite women, and again he showed his excellence: The team became national champions for four consecutive years and reached the final in the 2001 EHF Champions League

EHF Champions League

The EHF Champions League is the most important professional club handball competition in Europe . The competition was started in the 1956–57 season, and is administered by the European Handball Federation.The most successful teams are from Germany and Spain...

.

He now needed new challenges and turned towards the club's men's team in the early 2000s. This marked Wilbek's least successful period as a coach with no medals won. But he was still popular within the national handball association, and in 2005 he was appointed coach of the national men's team. In 2006 he led the team to a 3. place finish at European Championships and in 2007 they finished as nr. 3 in The World Championship. In 2008 he led the team to first place in the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship.