Kari Aalvik Grimsbø

Kari Aalvik Grimsbø
Personal information
Born (1985-01-04) 4 January 1985
Bergen, Norway
Nationality Norwegian
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior clubs
Years Team
Orkdal IL
Skaun HK
–2010
Byåsen IL
2010–2014/2015
Team Esbjerg
2014/2015–2020
Győri ETO KC
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2018
Norway 173 (1)
Medal record
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Team
2012 London Team
2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
2011 Brazil
2015 Denmark
2007 France
2017 Germany
2009 China
European Championship
2006 Sweden
2008 Macedonia
2010 Denmark/Norway
2014 Croatia/Hungary
2016 Sweden

Kari Aalvik Grimsbø (born 4 January 1985) is a former Norwegian handball player who last played for Győri ETO KC and the Norwegian national team.[1][2] She is both an Olympic, European and World Champion. Since her retirement she is the goalkeeping coach at Byåsen HE.

Career

Aalvik Grimsbø played her first match for the senior national team in September 2005 against Portugal. Previously she had played for Norway in the junior European and World Championships.

Grimsbø started playing handball aged 5 at Børsa/Skaun.[3] Before she joined Byåsen, she played for the clubs Orkdal.[3] In 2010 she joined Danish side Team Esbjerg. She joined to Győri ETO in January 2015, she signed a contract for 2 and a half years.[4] As she stated about the contract: "It is a great opportunity for me, and when such an opportunity arises, it is hard to say no. It’s a dream coming true." In November 2016 she extended her contract with 3 more years. "There is a great team in Győr at the moment, I'm glad, that I can play here for at least three more years. It is really important for me, that I can play at the highest level with Győri ETO and I can prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games." With Gyor she won the 2015, 2016, 2018 und 2019 Hungarian Cup, the 2016, 2017, 2018 und 2019 Hungarian Championship and the 2017, 2018 and 2019 EHF Women's Champions League.

In 2018 she announced her temporary retirement from the Norwegian national team. For the qualification games to the 2020 Summer Olympics, her return to the national team was announced on Feb 28, 2020.[5] On 30 April 2020, she announced her retirement.[6]

Achievements

Individual awards

Personal

She is married. She gave birth to her son, Sindre in June 2013.

References

  1. ^ "Håndballjentene" (in Norwegian). Siste.no. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  2. ^ EHF profile
  3. ^ a b "Kari Aalvik Grimsbø på europamester" (in Norwegian). Europamester. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013.
  4. ^ Györ reagiert auf Torwart-Ausfall
  5. ^ Håndballjentene til OL-kval i Montenegro - Handball.no
  6. ^ "Grimsbø legger opp" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 6 July 2025.