Anne Marte Pensgaard

Anne Marte Pensgaard is a Professor at the Department of Sport and Social Sciences at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, with an additional 20% position at the Department of Sport Psychology at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center (Olympiatoppen). She serves as the program director for the bachelor education of Coaching and Sport Psychology.

Her research focuses on motivational factors related to coping with stress in extreme situations, the importance of the coach-athlete relationship for performance, and mental health in elite sports among athletes and coaches. She has extensive experience working with mental processes in ball games (particularly football and handball) as well as individual sports such as snowboard, freeskiing, orienteering, and rifle shooting. Her work is closely linked to her daily contact and guidance of elite-level practitioners.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on mental health in elite sports, coach-athlete relationships, talent development mindsets, and the intersection of mental health with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). There's a clear trend toward interdisciplinary research connecting psychology with sports medicine, particularly in understanding how psychological factors influence injury risk and overall athlete well-being.

Anne Marte Pensgaard has been actively involved in mentoring students and guiding research projects, particularly in the areas of sport psychology and mental health in elite sports. Her work with the Norwegian Olympic Training Center provides practical applications of her research findings to support elite athletes.

She leads research projects on mental health in elite sports and simulation training in alpine skiing, among others. Her work often involves collaboration with multidisciplinary teams including sports medicine specialists, coaches, and other sport psychology researchers.