– I am really looking forward to getting started and playing matches again. Now it’s been a long time since the last time, says Helle Sofie Sagøy. Because the last time Sagøy played a game was in November. Then she came home from Tokyo as world champion in parabadminton. This time it is the Norwegian championships in Kristiansand, where the para athlete competes against the able-bodied. Helle Sofie Sagøy was born with dysmelia. She has a prosthesis from her right knee down. Photo: Heidi Ditlefsen / news – I don’t think about my handicap when I play against able-bodied people. I just try to play the best I can, says Sagøy. She is keen not to set limits for herself, but rather to see the possibilities. – If I set limits for myself in battle, I have already lost. The Klæbu girl moved down to Kristiansand two and a half years ago. Now she plays for Kristiansand Badminton Club (KBK). Helle Sofie Sagøy during the Tokyo WC last year. There she took home the gold. Photo: news – An opportunity to show what I can do Sagøy was born with dysmelia, which means that she moves with a prosthesis from the right knee down. But that doesn’t stop her on the badminton court. – For me, this is completely normal. I was born with dysmelia and I don’t know anything else, says Sagøy and adds: – I don’t think that being able-bodied is automatically better than me. I rather think that I have an opportunity to show them what I can achieve. Hope to inspire others In Norway there are no badminton tournaments for para athletes, but internationally para badminton is getting bigger and bigger. 2021 was the first year that badminton was on the program in the Paralympics, where Sagøy got fourth place. The para athlete hopes to be an inspiration to others. – I hope to contribute so that someone can find joy in sports and feel a sense of mastery that things are possible. Everyone can make it happen, despite a disability, says Sagøy. Helle Sofie has put her best season behind her. Last year, she won WC gold in Japan. This weekend she plays the NM in Kristiansand. Photo: Heidi Ditlefsen / news Too few para athletes in badminton The president of the Norwegian Badminton Association, Michael Fyrie-Dahl, is glad Sagøy shows that badminton is for everyone. – She is a great inspiration with everything she manages to achieve, says Fyrie-Dahl. He says it is not possible to organize para tournaments as there are not enough people doing the sport. – We hope that the effort she puts in and everything she achieves will help more people enjoy badminton, even if they have a disability. Michael Fyrie-Dahl was proud when Helle Sofie Sagøy won the female para athlete of the year during the Sports Gala, January 2023. Photo: Privat At the same time as he adds that para athletes like Sagøy can benefit greatly from training with able-bodied people. She herself agrees with that. – I get the best training on the badminton court and in a match situation, says Sagøy. The goal is Paris in 2024. Sagøy has had its best season behind it. She won WC gold in Japan last year. In addition, she went to the top in a number of World Cup competitions. Helle Sofie Sagøy hopes for more medals. During this year’s sports gala, she was named female para athlete. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news Now she is aiming for the Paralympics in Paris next year. She herself does not have too high hopes for her own performances in the NM. – I am participating in the National Championships to get combat training in preparation for the Paralympic qualification, which starts in two weeks. It will probably be fun and most likely good training out of it. The first round of the Badminton National Championship was played on Friday and the quarter-finals on Saturday. Sagøy went out in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
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