Career
He has four World Cup podiums, his best finish being second in individual sprint events (2006: Germany, 2009: Estonia). In the Individual Sprint he was one of three Norwegians to reach the six-man final. Pettersen began competing in national events in 2002 and in junior international events in 2003.
Although he has competed in dozens of events, he only finished in the top three at World Cup events five times, including second place finished in Germany in 2006 and in Estonia in 2009.
Pettersen was selected to join the Norwegian team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. In his first Olympic event, the individual sprint, he placed 6th, one of three Norwegians who made it to the final competition round.
A number of teams were in contention following Pettersen"s performance during the first leg of the race, and it was not until the last hill that Northug passed his opponents and took the lead entering the stadium where the race finished.