Klaus-Dieter Petersen

Klaus-Dieter Petersen was a handball centre forward who participated in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1992-2004, winning the silver medal in 2004 when Germany lost a close final 26-24 against Croatia. In 1998, Petersen won the bronze medal at the European Championships, and then added a silver in 2002. His greatest moment came in 2004 when he won the Europeans and the following year was World Championship runner-up. In total, Petersen won 340 international caps scoring 253 goals. He was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award.

Domestically, Petersen played with GWD Minden (until 1988), VfL Gummersbach (1988-93), THW Kiel (1993-2005), and Wilhelmshavener HV (2005-08). In total, he won nine German national titles, in 1991 with Gummersbach, and 1994-96, 1998-2000, 2002, and 2005 with Kiel, with whom he also won three German Cups (1998-2000), and the European EHF-Cup in 1998, 2002 and 2004.

During his time at Kiel, Petersen started an assistant coaching career in 2003. He then coached several clubs in Northern Germany and became Regional Youth Coach of Lower Saxony, and from 2010-12 was Regional Chief Coach. In 2014, he became a graduated sports coach.