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He refuses to say: Katrine Lunde destroyed the crucifix at the age of 39, but she refuses to give up on the dream of a return in Vipers and Norway. In this VG interview Photo: BJØRN S. DELEBEKK
KRISTIANSAND (VG) One year is approaching from ligament injury and pain. With the good help of her twin sister Kristine, Katrine Lunde (40) soon ends the long road back to the handball goal. The goal was the Olympics, now is the beginning of the series.
It is hard work in “Vipers Akademi”, where the Lunde sisters have a strength session, with manual drying of manuals. The force room has just reopened, after the crown also prevented its use here. But now Katrine Lunde shows strength: she works hard every day to recover from injury.
Every day you get close to full physical shape. Some of the exercises she performs in the force room, she could barely do without the help of her twin sister, Kristine Lunde Borgersen.
This is really twins. Katrine was born three minutes before Kristine. And when VG asks how far the girls live, the answer comes immediately: – Three meters …
Katrine managed to get hold of the neighboring house, in Kristiansand, of course.
Katrine Lunde
She must also laugh at herself, at the inseparable.
“We look at each other more than our men,” he laughs, about the relationship with the sister.
But the laughter sat far away on May 12 of last year. Katrine Lunde, who she thinks remembers being postponed for a couple of weeks with an eye injury while playing in Denmark, experienced each player’s nightmare. And that at 39 years old.
In the photo gallery below, you can see some of the best photos that photographer Bjørn Delebekk took during the meeting with Lunde:
“I do not care”
In Budapest, Lunde received a knee spin and was transported out of the arena on a stretcher halfway into the first round of the Champions League bronze final.
– I knew right away there was something very wrong, says Katrine Lunde, where we sat at the “Geheb pastry shop” in the center of Kristiansand.
– Do you remember how you reacted?
– All I remember when I saw the photo was that it hurt, that I was scared, scared, sorry, and upset. And the first thought was: “I don’t care.”
The knee injury occurred in a duel with Metz forward Beatrice Edwig. Katrine Lunde writhed in pain on the hallway floor as both the club’s health team and twin sister Kristine rushed to the parquet.
See the situation here:
– I had ankle problems for a while, and I think the strain on my left knee was too great. I remember thinking, “If you go to the Olympics now, you have to work properly.”
– So you never thought, now I quit?
– No, it wasn’t on my mind.
Twin sister Kristine is equally sure:
– I never thought Katrine would give up because of an injury. But it is strong of him to maintain courage in adversity. She goes in everything.
– What can stop it?
– He wonders how long it will be until he can play handball again. You can stop her, says the twin sister, who knows Katrine Lunde better than anyone.
Three operations
But what is unknown, to some, is that Lunde had to undergo three surgeries before her knee became good enough that she could resume training.
– The first operation did not go so well. He couldn’t fully stretch his leg. So I had to go back inside, she says. So of course it took longer before he could start his way back to the job of saving handball.
Katrine Lunde is 40 years old. And she has won 33 (!) Titles in Norwegian and international handball, even though the first one didn’t come until she was 24 years old. It might not have been so strange if the cruciate ligament injury had led to the dismissal of the Norwegian master goalkeeper.
– I really haven’t thought about it. All I can do now is go an entire year without spectators at matches. Then I finish with handball, he says firmly.
Because he is hungry for more. That’s what keeps her in the force room for weeks. The Olympics are postponed, which may be an advantage for her as she has better time to return in “Lunde form”. But there is the European Championship in December this year, even in Trondheim. Katrine Lunde really wants to go with her.
– For me, the road to the goal is exciting, says Lunde. She likes to exercise. And as she says, “I want to improve.”
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A longer contract with Vipers was discussed even before the cruciate ligament injury, and in January he signed for three and a half years.
– But I said that “I lose motivation and then I quit.” It’s not the salary that drives me, but it’s also important, it’s important to have a job, says Lunde, who is studying to get a degree in social work. She educates herself as a social worker.
– Looking for a life outside of handball?
– I continue with handball, I will work with the goalkeepers if I have the opportunity. But it’s nice to have a chance at other jobs too, says Katrine Lunde.
– Why did you become a guardian?
– No one else wanted to finish …
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Here the sister interrupts, and comes with an opposite message:
– EVERYTHING would be in goal …
– When did you realize you had a talent for this, Katrine?
– Maybe when one of my coaches said “maybe you can go beyond the circuit”. When I had the chance at U-18, I felt that the other archers were better than me. And since Kristiansand didn’t have a superior team at the time, it took me a while before I tried correctly.
Since then, he has been careful with many things, including the use of video. Katrine Lunde is one of the keepers who spends many hours studying the shooters on the opposing team. He loves the psychological game between shooter and goalkeeper.
– It’s fun, she says, and smiles well.
He was 22 years old when he participated in his first Olympics. Since then, she has been mainly there.
He is now dreaming of his fourth Olympics, and the opportunity has improved for Lunde’s participation there, after the crown was one year late.
