– I just played matches and lay in bed. Then the day starts with Paralgin forte and brexidol. If it’s match day, then it’s the match, home to eat and then take sleeping pills. This is how Trine Aaltvedt-Rønning describes the days during the football European Championship in 2009 in this week’s episode of the podcast Heia Fotball, where she opens up for the first time about how she felt during the championship. At the office at the Skagerak Arena in Skien a few days later, she welcomes news. The 41-year-old now works for the football club in Telemark, where she, among other things, follows up children’s and youth football. She goes on to say: OPENS UP: Trine Aaltvedt-Rønning. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news – It is what happens between the football matches that has become a great food for thought for me in retrospect. When you live in it, the most important thing is the football match to be won. All means were used to get ready for battle, she describes. – Then it went on everything from Paralgin forte to sleeping pills to mild things like Paracet, ibux and that bit. It was just surviving from battle to battle and sleeping and recovering with painkillers, quite simply. She goes on to say that she used painkillers for several periods in her career, but that the EC in 2009 was “absolutely extreme”. – This is not how sport should be. I stand by that 100 percent. You shouldn’t be dependent on taking painkillers or other preparations in order for you to be able to be active at all, she says. CENTRAL: Aaltvedt-Rønning was a key player for the Norwegian national team for several years. Here she is cheering during the penalty shoot-out between Norway and Denmark in the semi-finals of the European Championship in 2013. Photo: NTB The teammates gave a stop notice The European Championship in 2009 was a sporting upswing for the Norwegian women, where they beat Sweden 3–1 in the quarter-finals and eventually ended with bronze after losing to Germany in the semi-finals. – For Trine, football was everything and she was willing to contribute. If she had to take pills to do it, she did it, says Elise Thorsnes, who was part of the national team squad in 2009. The semi-final against Germany was played without Aaltvedt-Rønning on the pitch. – It got to a point where teammates said “Trine, now that’s enough”. When your pupils are larger than the eyeball itself, it goes without saying that you may have crossed a line, says Aaltvedt-Rønning. According to Aaltvedt-Rønning, Solveig Gulbrandsen was among those who said that it was time to call it quits in the championship in 2009. – I had not had any problems either. It said stop. And then I probably would have tried, if Solveig hadn’t said that now you can be satisfied, says Aaltvedt-Rønning. TEAMMATES: Solveig Gulbrandsen (left) gave a clear message to Trine Aaltvedt-Rønning (right) during the European Championships in 2009. Photo: NTB Had withdrawals: – Sincerely on a rehab The right knee in particular was through large parts of Aaltvedt-Rønning’s eventful career a nuisance. The now 41-year-old from Trønder played a total of 162 games for the Norwegian national team and became league champion with Trondheims/Ørn, Kolbotn and Stabæk. Ahead of the EC in 2009, she injured her knee and was uncertain. She carried that injury into the championship, where she describes to Heia Fotball that she had been in a “pill intoxication” due to the consumption of painkillers and sleeping pills. Trine Aaltvedt-Rønning Born 14 June 1982 in Trondheim. Made his debut for the A national team as a 19-year-old in 1999. Played a total of 162 international matches, the last in 2016. Won two league championships and four cup gold with Trondheims/Ørn from 1998-2002. Won two league championships and one cup gold with Kolbotn from 2003-2008. Won two league championships and three cup golds with Stabæk from 2009-2017. Participated in taking European Championship silver in 2005 and 2013, as well as European Championship bronze in 2009. – I had big problems after the championship. You’ve been on a perpetual high for a month. After which you are quite frankly on a weaning pill, where you experience withdrawal because you realize that you cannot sleep without a sleeping pill, she says. She describes the time after the championship as tougher than during the championship itself. – You couldn’t sleep, you sweat, you get heart palpitations. It took some time, that is. But I didn’t continue taking pills when I got home. But you know that the body has a reaction. Which is not normal. And then you throw in a couple of Pinex Forte so that you are allowed to relax your body. It was a tough few weeks there. I can honestly say that. EC DUEL: Trine Aaltvedt Rønning helped take Norway to EC bronze in 2009. Off the field she struggled a lot with pain. Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Scanpix NFF: Stricter requirements today news has been in contact with John Inge Netland, who was national team doctor for the women’s national team in 2009, and presented him with the history and criticism from Aaltvedt-Rønning. He replies in an SMS: – I have the greatest respect for Trine Aaltvedt-Rønning. She best describes her own experiences from the national team herself, I do not wish to make supplementary statements. Doctor Thor Einar Andersen is the medical director of Idrettens Helsesenter, a subsidiary wholly owned by the Norwegian Football Association (NFF). – What Trine describes does not sound good, and we take her story seriously. It has been 15 years since this championship, and we ask for your understanding that we do not have insight into the details from there. But there is no reason to doubt Trine’s version and experiences. VISION: Inside the football circle in Telemark, the Football Association’s vision for children’s and youth football hangs visibly behind Aaltvedt-Rønning. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news – The use of medication in sports and football was more widespread in the past, and today there are stricter requirements for the use of medication to reduce discomfort and pain in order to play football, Andersen says. According to Andersen, the routines were and are such that there should be close contact, both verbally and in writing, between the medical apparatus in the club and the national team throughout the season. – The national teams’ medical apparatus sends reports to the club about incidents and status from meetings, as well as recommendations regarding further follow-up of players, says Andersen. Bjarne Berntsen was national team coach during the EC in 2009. He states that he does not wish to comment on the matter. NATIONAL TEAM COACH: Bjarne Berntsen led the Norwegian women during the EC in 2009. Here together with Aaltvedt-Rønning after she was injured in the run-up to the championship. Photo: NTB – Has the main responsibility herself Aaltvedt-Rønning finds it particularly challenging that she experienced standing alone after the championship, after a period where she had had close follow-up over time. – You have been followed up all the way and really always have control over what you put in (into the body). After all, you have access to the same medicines at home as you do at the clinic. But you somehow don’t get that controllable dose, which initially wasn’t good for me in retrospect. – How much responsibility would you say rests on the players in that situation to perhaps call it quits or ask for a different assessment? – In a way, the player has the main responsibility himself. No one can take that away from me. But I’m not a doctor and at the time I wasn’t a football coach. I want to play that match. There comes a point where someone has to tell the player that you are not ready to play. Dot. And then you have to take the consequences from that, she says. Aaltvedt-Rønning continues: – I’m the one who puts it inside my body, so I’m responsible for what you put in. Then you trust those who have this as their field of expertise on a daily basis, that things are right in a way, she continues. BALLEK: After a small comeback for Odd in 2021, Aaltvedt-Rønning has not played active football in recent years. She did, however, have a bit of a ball in front of news’s photographer. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news Cortisone shot in the garage at Gardermoen Back home on Norwegian soil, Aaltvedt-Rønning claims that the championship ended with a trip down to the parking garage at Gardermoen. – In order to get better towards the start of the series again, it was almost like hiring the doctor with his hand down in the parking garage at Gardermoen. Opened the suitcase, picked up the syringe and put the cortisone in the knee in the parking garage at Gardermoen. And then … good luck. It was at that level there, she says. – That sounds like a slightly absurd situation? – Yes, when you sit and talk about it now, that’s it. Then and there it was just “yes, put the syringe, we have a league match in 14 days”. So you’re completely crazy in your own head. Crazy people like me must have some controls and some help along the way. – Know it is better today, Aaltvedt-Rønning claims she entered a culture in the national team where it was common for the older players to request painkillers from younger players. – You come to a meeting and have both one and the other thrown at you in order for you to recover. Then the oldest people on the team, who have used such preparations over time, were like: “If you’re not going to have them, can I have them?” Well, that’s no problem for me. It is my first encounter with top football and the use of drugs, she says. – I did the same even when I got older, opposite to the younger ones. That’s what I’ve learned, so it’s kind of okay, she says further. She believes that medical follow-up has improved in recent years, but is clear that she does not think she is a “unique case”. – I know that it is better today exactly that towards medical, and that they report in and out. It is much better in the follow-up phase of the physical system today than it was in 2009, she believes. Although Aaltvedt-Rønning says that during periods of high stress on her knee she sometimes has to walk backwards down stairs, she is clear that she is generally fine today. – I function well in everyday life and can play with the children in the garden, be a football coach and go on walks and things like that, she says with a smile.
ttn-69
– An eternal intoxication for a month – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
