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Tore Aleksandersen had terminal cancer

Photo: Tom Weller / dpa

Former Stuttgart volleyball coach Tore Aleksandersen has died. As his former club Allianz MTV Stuttgart announced, citing the Norwegian's family, Aleksandersen died of prostate cancer at the age of 55. "With Tore we have lost a person who was much more than the successful coach of Allianz MTV Stuttgart for all of us," said sporting director Kim Oszvald-Renkema. »He has given each and every one of us an incredible amount of energy, inspiration and joy despite and during his illness.«

Aleksandersen died in his native Norway. "We are glad that he was still able to be there with his family," said MTV CEO Aurel Irion. The club mourns deeply with all its relatives and friends.

Aleksandersen celebrated his greatest successes in Germany

SSC Schwerin called its former coach an extraordinary person "who was not only an outstanding volleyball coach, but also an inspiring personality". He was a coach at the SSC for a total of seven years. The Norwegian has stood on the sidelines of the Schwerin volleyball team a total of 228 times and "was one of the most successful coaches in the club's history".

In 2006, he led the team to the double of championship and DVV Cup. A year later, they won the cup again. Afterwards he went back to his homeland. In January 2010 he returned to Schwerin and won the German championship with the SSC. He then made a name for himself as a club coach in Poland, Turkey and as national coach of the Norwegian men's national team and the Finnish women's national team.

He was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of 2020, and doctors predicted that he would live another five to ten years. He remained a coach and joined Allianz MTV in December 2020. In the spring of 2022, he won the first league and cup double in Stuttgart's history and led the team to the final of the CEV Cup, Europe's second-highest club competition.

He had recently had to take a break again and again due to treatment, and he rarely travelled to away games. In May 2023, he became champion for the second time with Stuttgart, and for once he witnessed the decisive fourth game in Potsdam on site. In July, Aleksandersen had to end his coaching career due to the illness. His successor in Stuttgart was Konstantin Bitter. "With Tore Aleksandersen, the entire sport of volleyball has lost an outstanding coach and person. Our grief could not be greater," said Oszvald-Renkema.

ast/dpa