Gunnar Atle Pettersen (born 30 July 1955) is a Norwegian former

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player and a former head coach of the Norwegian national team. He was awarded the trophy

Håndballstatuetten Håndballstatuetten is a Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *T ...

in 2000, and Gullknappen in 2009.

Personal life and education

Pettersen was born in

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

on 30 July 1955. He received his education from the

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences ( no, Norges idrettshøgskole, NIH) is a public university located at Sognsvann in Oslo, Norway. It has the national responsibility for education and research related within sport sciences. It provides educa ...

Playing career

Pettersen played for various clubs, including Herulf IL, Kolbotn IL, Fredensborg/Ski HK, Skiens BK, and Sandefjord HK. He won the Norwegian Men's Handball Cup with Fredensborg/Ski in 1981 and 1982. He was top scorer in the Norwegian top league

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

five seasons, and was named player of the year in 1982. He played 132 matches and scored 445 goals for the Norway men's national handball team between 1978 and 1987.

Coaching career

He coached the national team from 1989 to 1994, and again from 2001 to 2008.Gunnar Pettersen ny landslagstrener
– ''Norges Håndballforbund (31.05.2001)'' (Retrieved on 12 June 2008) His best international achievements are the 7th place at the

2005 World Men's Handball Championship The 2005 World Men's Handball Championship was the 19th team handball World Championship. It was played in Tunisia from 23 January to 6 February 2005. The winner of the gold medal was Spain, Croatia took silver and France won the bronze. Venu ...

and the 6th place at the 2008 European Championships. After securing Norway a place in the 2009 World Championship, he announced that he would not continue as the national team head coach when his contract ran out on 13 October 2008.Gunnar Pettersen slutter som landslagstrener
– ''Norges Håndballforbund (14.06.2008)'' (Retrieved on 14 June 2008)

2008 European Championships

Pettersen's team won preliminary group B of the

2008 European Men's Handball Championship The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17 to 27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark men's national handball team, Denmark won the tournament ...

and qualified for the main group after beating later champions

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, and

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. After tying later silver medalists

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in their last match in the main group, the team missed the semifinals.

Awards

In 2000 Pettersen was awarded the trophy

from the

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, and in 2009 he received NHF highest award, Gullknappen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettersen, Gunnar 1955 births Living people Norwegian male handball players Norwegian handball coaches National team coaches Norwegian School of Sport Sciences alumni