Bojana Popović née Petrović, (born 20 November 1979) is a handball coach and a retired Montenegrin handballer. She is considered by many to be the best female handball player of the past decade, despite not being given any official recognition. After winning the Women's EHF Champions League with Budućnost and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games with the Montenegro national team, Bojana Popović decided to retire from handball. However, in June 2016 Popović announced she would come out of retirement and make herself available for selection by the Montenegro national handball team to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Career
Bojana Popović started playing handball at Serbian club HC Naisa Niš when she was eleven years old. She later played for Montenegrin club Budućnost Podgorica for four seasons. In 2002, Popović signed a contract with Danish team Slagelse DT, at that time coached by Anja Andersen. With Slagelse, she experienced great success: three times Champions League winner, EHF Cup winner, three Danish Championship golds and one Danish Cup.
At the end of the 2006/07 season, Popović signed a contract with Viborg HK. Since her arrival at Viborg, she has won two Danish Championship golds and two Danish Cups. In 2009 she won her fourth Champions League title, the first with Viborg.
Achievements
National team
Olympic Games: Silver Medalist: 2012 World Championship: Bronze Medalist: 2001
European
EHF Champions League: Winner: 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2011/2012 EHF Cup: Winner: 2002/2003
Domestic
Damehåndboldligaen: Winner: 2002/2003, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009, 2009/2010 Danish Cup: Winner: 2001/2002, 2006/2007, 2007/2008 Serbian and Montenegrin Championship: Winner: 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Serbian and Montenegrin Cup: Winner: 2000, 2001, 2002 Prva Liga: Winner: 2010/2011, 2011/2012 Montenegrin Cup: Winner: 2011, 2012
Awards and recognition
During her handball career, Bojana Popović was considered to be the best player in the world by many. She has been chosen Player of the Year by the Danish Handball Federation four times. Popović's individual awards and achievements include: Player of the year in Denmark in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 Topscorer of the Danish League 2003/04 and 2004/05 Topscorer of the Champions League in 2004, 2005 and 2007 "Cup Fighter" () 2008 Montenegrin Sportsperson of the Year: 2012