Gro Espeseth (born 30 October 1972) is a former Norwegian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, world champion and olympic champion. She played for the clubs

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 39,234 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey ...

and Trondheims-Ørn, debuted for the

Norwegian national team 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 *The Norwegian language, including ...

in 1991, and played 105 matches for the national team. She received a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, and a gold medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney."2000 Summer Olympics – Melbourne, Australia – Soccer"
(Retrieved on 15 May 2008)

Club career

With Sandviken Espeseth won the 1995

Norwegian Women's Cup The Norwegian Women's Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for kvinner) is a knockout cup competition in Norwegian women's football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Un ...

, scoring twice in the 3–2 final win over Trondheims-Ørn, including the

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

winner. She had an offer to join Japanese L. League club

Suzuyo Shimizu F.C. Lovely Ladies was a women's football team which played in Division 1 of Japan's Nadeshiko League. It founded the league in 1989. The club was disbanded in 1999. Honors Domestic competitions * Nadeshiko.League Division 1 **Champions (1) : 1989 **Runners-up ( ...

, but the transfer fell through when she failed the

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practi ...

. Espeseth signed for the

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the U ...

(WUSA) ahead of the inaugural season in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

. She was allocated to

New York Power The New York Power was an American professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional soccer league for women in the United States. The team played at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Unionda ...

alongside compatriot

Ann Kristin Aarønes Ann Kristin Aarønes (born 19 January 1973) is a Norwegian former footballer. She first played for Spjelkavik IL, then for Trondheims-Ørn and the Norwegian national team. Later she played for the WUSA's New York Power, during the club's firs ...

. Knee damage meant that she was only able to play for one season before retiring. In 2007 Espeseth returned to football as an assistant coach with her former club Sandviken. Due to the unavailability of several players, she made a guest appearance as a player in July 2007, six years after her retirement. She was substituted after 40 minutes of Sandviken's Toppserien 9–0 defeat by

Røa IL Røa IL is a Norwegian sports club from Røa in the borough of Vestre Aker, Oslo. It was founded on 11 November 1900, and has sections for football, gymnastics, bandy, and cross-country skiing. Football, bandy, and Nordic skiing have been do ...

Honours

Olympics

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

- Bronze * Sydney 2000 - Gold

FIFA Women's World Cup

* 1991 FIFA World Cup in China - Silver * 1995 FIFA World Cup in Sweden - Gold

Personal life

Espeseth gave birth to son Brage in 2002.

References

External links

*

at

(New York Power) * 1972 births Living people Norwegian women's footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway FIFA Century Club Olympic medalists in football Norway women's international footballers 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Toppserien players SK Brann Kvinner players SK Trondheims-Ørn players New York Power players Women's United Soccer Association players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Norwegian expatriate women's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States FIFA Women's World Cup-winning captains Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Women's association football defenders UEFA Women's Championship-winning players People from Stord Sportspeople from Vestland {{Norway-footy-defender-stub