Katrine Lunde: "I will miss the people the most"

At home. In Kristiansand.

There are few privileges rarer in sport than choosing your own ending. Katrine Lunde had that privilege and she really created a fairytale ending. All while still performing at the highest level past 40, still adding medals to a cabinet that had long run out of space.

On Sunday, at the Aquarama, the arena in her hometown of Kristiansand, the legendary goalkeeper made one final appearance, as Norway defeated Slovakia 38:19 in the EHF EURO Cup. Twenty-one medals at major international competitions. Thirteen gold. Seven EHF Champions League titles. And then, at the final whistle, just nostalgia. And plenty of tears.

No comeback. No encore. Just the sound of an arena that knew exactly what it had witnessed, an all-time great, arguably the greatest goalkeeper of all time, reeling it in.

And then, in a second, just like that, it was over. 

“My feelings are a bit up and down. I am really grateful and happy to be here with the girls. We had training on Friday and I really love going in there and working with these amazing players and the team around us. But I also know that my career will end. So I am looking forward to it, because it will be a really great celebration, but there will also be a lot of emotions from my side. I know it will be so emotional just walking into the arena. It is hard to even speak about it,” said Lunde one day before her final match.

 

The goalkeeper made her debut for the national team in 2002. No player has featured more times for Norway in the history of the team, with Lunde being capped 389 times, as only Camilla Herrem (332) and Karoline Dyhre Breivang (305) played at least 300 times for the “Håndballjentene”.

When Lunde featured at the IHF Women’s World Championship for the first time in 2003, her opponents were Bojana Popović, Grit Jurack or Ausra Fridrikas. 12 years later, Lunde was stopping shots from Cristina Neagu, Anna Vyakhireva or Estavana Polman.

And now, when she ended her career on a high, with another World title, she shared the court with Henny Reistad, the IHF Female World Player of the Year in 2023, 2024 and 2025, who was only three years old when Lunde made her debut for Norway’s national team.

“I will miss the people the most. Because I think sport is made by the people inside it. And that is also why I feel more comfortable about this transition, because I know that the people, I can always find again. I will not be out of the sport entirely. The amazing people I have met all around the world in handball, I will always be able to find them,” says Lunde.

“I do try to be a good role model. I know that earlier in my career I was a bit harder and more focused on myself, but I have always tried to hold on to good values.”

And a role model she was. She inspired plenty of players in Norway and beyond the European borders to start playing handball. She continued to play herself, become better and better and deliver fantastic performances. And win titles.

 

Take, for instance, her display at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. Lunde saved 86 shots for a 48% saving efficiency, and was included in the All-Star team of the competition just for the second time, after she was also there in 2017.

One year earlier, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Lunde was the MVP of the competition, with 79 saves, at an otherworldly rate of 42% saving efficiency. All this at 44 and 45 years old respectively.

Could she have played more?

“Physically, yes. And mentally as well. I think I could have continued, but I do not have everything around me to make it happen. I do not have the motivation to move again. I want to stay here in my city and be more present as a mother. So there are two sides to it, but I am really happy that I made my decision, because it was the hardest decision to make, announcing that the 2025 World Championship would be my last championship. And once it was over, I also felt a bit relieved that I had said it out loud. It was a kind of binding. And maybe that is also why I stayed so focused during the tournament. I just got into a really good rhythm and I was proud of myself for how I handled it, because the last year was quite up and down, with the bankruptcy and changing clubs twice. So in that way, I really showed myself that I was capable of managing everything in a professional and mentally strong way,” adds Lunde.

But what makes a serial winner to aim for more of the same? What propelled Lunde to this fantastic place where she became better and better with age?

“I think I am mentally strong. I can adapt. Especially in the last year, it has been fascinating to learn to turn my thinking around, to put things behind me and focus only on what is coming next. I try not to dwell on what went wrong. After a match, I just wipe it out and hold on to the good things. That has been key,” says the goalkeeper.

Pressed to identify the best memory from her illustrious career, Lunde takes a pause and think. And then, it all clicks. It is impossible to choose one, because there are so many. 

 

Just bear with us, as we list the achievements: 13 gold medals (seven at the EHF EURO, three at the IHF Women’s World Championship, three at the Olympic Games), five silver medals (three at the World Championship, two at the EHF EURO) and three bronze medals (two at the Olympic Games and one at the World Championship).

Plus seven EHF Champions League Women titles – two with Viborg HK, two with Győri ETO KC and three with Vipers Kristiansand.

“I cannot choose one. It is like being asked to pick your favourite child, you just cannot do it. But I can say that my first Olympics was very special, because of the way we played. We were a young team and we had not qualified for Athens before, so that meant a lot. The semifinal against Republic of Korea and the final against Russia, if I remember correctly, those were unforgettable moments,” says Lunde. 

“And one of the first European Championships we played in Hungary, in 2004 I think, was also very special because of the incredible atmosphere and the performances we delivered. And I am also very proud of the last World Championship, not only because it was the last, but because I played really well and it had not been the easiest road into it. And the last Olympics, too. But I genuinely cannot choose one.”

But can she stay away from handball?

First of all, she is thinking about how she will spend Christmas from now on, with almost a month away from the family before returning just before the holiday, as major international competitions are scheduled for December.

“I grew up with a lot of Christmas traditions and Christmas is very important to me. So I will definitely bake a lot and make it very special for my daughter. That is what I look forward to most in those months. I will still watch the matches, of course,  I will see if I can watch all of them or whether it will be too emotional,” smiles Lunde.

However, Lunde can see herself in not of a distant future close to the court.

“I can see myself in a coaching role. I really enjoy being in the environment and I appreciate the culture we have in Norway. I am also open to working abroad. But goalkeeper coaching specifically, yes, that I genuinely enjoy. I could see that in my future,” concludes Lunde.

But until then, she can finally get to grips with the retirement.

At home. In Kristiansand.