– It has been really fun, exciting and challenging, says Marit Malm Frafjord. The handball player had to bite the bullet and leave the Champion of Champions on Friday night. But she fought hard to the very end in the battle for a semi-final ticket. It cost both bruises and burns. Not to mention an ever-so-small trip down to the basement. Went with a bang For the infamous “hell week” certainly lives up to its name. And it starts with a crash at the country’s southernmost airport. In the “chronic idiot” the task is to get under and over as many obstacles as possible in seven minutes. And this is where Frafjord has a real bang. She collapses into last place in the fierce competition. – It was terribly heavy. I think it’s the exercise I’ve been in the basement the longest, she says to news. But the 38-year-old is far from the only one to be overtaken by the taste of blood and acid: Footballer Helland fought for first place right to the end. But it comes at a cost. And it will be skier Anders Aukland who could adorn himself with first place. He completes 34 lengths and impresses once again with his stamina. And floorball player Birgitte Lersbryggen also impressed. She keeps her flow even in the hardest games, and ends up in third place. For shooter Ole-Kristian Bryhn, the competition is a hard start to the week of hell. – It was terribly heavy, he says after finishing second to last. Pål André Helland is fighting for silver, right behind skier Anders Aukland. – Now I need to massage my “rump balls”, he says in sounding Trøndish after the finish line. Record-breaking hell week But the hard drive just continues. In the classic “skranken” it is simple and straightforward to grit your teeth and hold on. This is what it looked like when Andreas Lødrup set the record in the exercise last year, in a pure demonstration of power: The kickboxer held out for an impressive 17 minutes and 19 seconds. But the effort had its price. Afterwards, he lost feeling in the tip of his finger and told news that he did not get it back for months. This year’s participants come from the exercise without permanent injuries. But there won’t be any new record either. Birgitte Lersbryggen fights through the pain, while Anders Aukland takes the “counter” with crushing calm. Photo: Alice Asplund / Nordisk Banijay/news Anders Aukland jumps down after five and a half minutes and collects a clear and controlled victory. Bruises and burns He doesn’t get it just as easily in tonight’s third challenge. A brand new exercise that is not for the faint of heart. For three kilometers the gang will walk along the airstrip at Lista before they can cross the finish line. The men with 80 kilos on their shoulders, the women with 50. It was not just the weight on the shoulders that became a challenge for the participants in the last exercise of the week. Photo: Alice Asplund / Nordisk Banijay/news This takes a lot of effort. But according to Marit Malm Frafjord, it was not the weight that created the biggest problem. The wooden plank they were carrying led to both burns and bruises in some people. Shooter Ole-Kristian Bryhn gets to the goal first and thus escapes the night test. Photo: Alice Asplund / Nordisk Banijay/news When the handball player eventually realizes that she will not reach the finish line in time to avoid the night test, she barely considers not completing the exercise. – But then I thought no, you can’t have a father. You have to drive on and get to the finish line. And she did. Almost arm in arm with Birgitte Lersbryggen, whom she later had to meet in the night test. Straight into competition mode And for Frafjord, the exit so close to a semi-final was surprisingly sour. – It was tougher than I had expected, she admits. Although the main focus has been on having fun, she says that it didn’t take long for the competitive instinct to creep in. – I notice that you still get quite annoyed when you lose or do badly, she says, laughing. Frafjord says it is the people she has met that she has most appreciated in the Master of Masters. Nor does she hide the fact that some of the season’s competitions have presented challenges. And she has no doubts about which exercise she will remember best. – There were many of us who set up barriers. It was a bit of a claustrophobic feeling. I think many people will remember this one, says the 38-year-old to news about the exercise “the wall”. Marit Malm Frafjord is one of Norway’s most accomplished handball players, both on the national team and at club level. Frafjord has two Olympic golds, one World Championship gold and five European Championship golds in his bag. In addition, she has secured several silver and bronze medals for Norway in various championships. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB The batsman has played a total of 223 matches for the national team and has been captain during a number of championships. To news, she describes the Olympics in London in 2012 as perhaps the biggest victory of them all. Marit Malm Frafjord highlights the gold for the handball team from the London Olympics in 2012 as one of the best moments of her career. Photo: MARKO DJURICA / Reuters In the quarter-finals, Norway is trailing by several goals at the break. The game has dragged through the championship, but after the break it is as if the handbrake is loosened. Norway wins the match. And then they win Olympic gold. – I think it is the strongest turnaround I have been involved in during an entire championship, but also just in a single match when so much was at stake. How did the slightly cautious Marit Malm Frafjord end up as a linebacker for Norway, and what dirty tricks did she agree to use on the line? What does she think about the success of the handball team? And what made her come back after quitting in 2018?
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– Better than I expected – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
