Marit Breivik is a former Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 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...

 player, and former head coach for the Norwegian women's national handball team

Norway women's national handball team

The Norway women's national handball team is the national team of Norway. It is governed by the Norwegian Handball Federation and takes part in international handball competitions....

. As coach, she has led the team to victory in the 2008 Olympic tournament, the World Women's Handball Championship

World Women's Handball Championship

The World Championship in team handball for women has been organized by the International Handball Federation since 1957.- Championships :- Overall medal count :- Participation history :-Largest winning margin:Source: - External links :*...

 in 1999, and four European Women's Handball Championships, in 1998 (Netherlands)

1998 European Women's Handball Championship

-Final ranking:Source: EuroHandball.com.Source: Dagbladet....

, 2004 (Hungary)

2004 European Women's Handball Championship

The 2004 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in Hungary from 9–19 December, it was won by Norway after beating Denmark 27–25 in the final match.-Venues:The European Championships will be held in the following cities:...

, 2006 (Sweden)

2006 European Women's Handball Championship

The 2006 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in Sweden from 7–17 December. It was won by Norway after beating Russia 27–24 in the final match....

 and 2008 (Macedonia)

2008 European Women's Handball Championship

The 2008 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in the Republic of Macedonia from 2–14 December, it was won by Norway after beating Spain 34–21 in the final match.-Venues:...

.

Playing career

She was born in Levanger

Levanger

Levanger is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherred region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger...

. As a player she played 140 games with the Norwegian national team from 1975 to 1983. She won three Norwegian national championships with her club Skogn IL.

She has her education from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences 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 education at Bachelor, Master and Doctorate level....

.

Coaching career

Breivik has been coach for clubs such as Byåsen IL and Larvik HK

Larvik HK

Larvik Håndballklubb, is a women's handball club from Larvik, Norway. They play in the Norwegian top league for women and they have won the Norwegian Championship thirteen times.- History :...

, and from 1994 head coach for the Norwegian national female team. She is appointed at the Olympiatoppen

Olympiatoppen

Olympiatoppen is an organisation that is part of Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports with responsibility for training Norwegian elite sport. Olympiatoppen is based at the Toppidrettssenteret between Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and Sognsvann. The leader of...

 where she is responsible coach for team sports. Among her achievements are one Olympic gold and one bronze medal, one World Championship win and two silver medals, three European Championship wins, two silver and one bronze medal.

Breivik is known for her calm, controlled coaching style, for solid knowledge and for constantly trying to develop the sport. As an example of the latter, Norway often swaps the goalkeeper for an extra player in five-to-six penalty play, in order to be able to keep up a normal attack (at the expense of greatly increased vulnerability during a counter-attack if the ball should be lost).

In January 2009 Breivik announced that she had decided to step down as national coach after 15 years on the job.

Achievements

Olympic Games

• 1996: 4th
• 2000: 3rd
• 2004: did not qualify
• 2008: 1st

World Championships

• 1995: 4th
• 1997: 2nd
• 1999: 1st
• 2001: 2nd
• 2003: 6th
• 2005: 9th
• 2007: 2nd

European Championships

• 1994: 3rd
• 1996: 2nd
• 1998: 1st
• 2000: 6th
• 2002: 2nd
• 2004: 1st
• 2006: 1st
• 2008: 1st

Awards and recognitions

On March 16, 2009, Breivik was appointed Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for her efforts as a role model in Norwegian sports.

Personal life

Breivik is married, but has no children, although her husband has a child from a previous marriage.

Breivik has also been active in politics. She represented the Socialist Left Party

Socialist Left Party (Norway)

The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...

 in Levanger municipal council from 1987 to 1991, but has stated that she votes Labour

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

in national elections.