– I got to rest then. We get to choose to see the positive in it, says Sander Sagosen to news. He had time to shower before arriving in the press zone in Paris. Because after showing very good form in just over 28 minutes of the Olympic opening against Argentina, Sagosen received a red card for a tackle. Thus, he had to watch his teammates pull off the victory from the stands instead of on the turquoise pitch in the Arena Sud, south of the French capital. But Sagosen’s much-talked-about body hardly hurt that much from half an hour’s extra recovery. It will hold a long Olympics, and he is starting to show his age after 10 years at the top in a physically demanding sport. An Olympics that the Norwegian handball men have started brilliantly. The victory against Argentina was followed by victory against the host nation France, before Norway emerged victorious from an incredible second drama against Hungary on Wednesday. Three straight victories and a steady course towards the quarter-finals for Sagosen & co. GOT RED: Sander Sagosen was sent off just before half-time in Norway’s first Olympic match against Argentina. He himself thought it was wrongly imposed. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB He is and will be Norway’s biggest star, and expectations for him are high in all matches he plays with the flag on his chest. It is usually he who will score the goals, he who will play others and he who will make the right choices in important situations. He who both takes and gets the “blame” when things don’t go his way. – I have enormously high expectations of myself when I go out on the handball court as well. And maybe I get better and better the older I get to accept that things don’t always go exactly the way I want, but I’m constantly chasing that, the perfect thing in the game, admits the national team’s number five. He is still only 28 years old, but it has already been over 10 years since his breakthrough. Everyone heard that the young Trønder had plans to become the world’s best handball player. FULL OF HOPE: Sander Sagosen met news at home in Haslum in 2013. Photo: Archive news At first, everyone was talking about his smart handball head. What makes him see opportunities that not many others do. But his body was also quickly discussed. – It is very complex to build the physique to play handball, and it is very difficult to make it perfect. I think you will never find that, says Sagosen. – The physics is something that has come in recent years, but I think part of what has created the handball head is that I have grown up being thin and frail. And I may have had to think about handball in a different way than those who are a bit bigger and stronger, he adds. – 107 kilos, too much The handball adventure about Sander Sagosen began in earnest when he turned pro in Denmark’s Aalborg in 2014, but the rather young talent spoke loudly about how he had to get bigger and stronger if he was to succeed in the best clubs in Europe. – Dad has always told me that as a handball player you should be as heavy as possible, but it should be functional, he says. There had been a lot of talk about Sagosen’s weight. The word transformation has often been repeated. Over the years, he built up from the 85 kilos he had brought with him to Denmark. – He got an apartment right next to the hall, so he had 200 meters to the strength room. Daan was a brilliant handball player with lots of qualities, but he was extremely thin. He could not withstand the same pressure and was stopped much more easily, explains news’s handball expert Håvard Tvedten. THE STRENGTH ROOM: Håvard Tvedten (left) and Sander Sagosen (right) together from the time they played together in Aalborg. Photo: Privat The former national team winger also played in Aalborg, and was a kind of mentor for young Sagosen. – He spent the three years there to become really robust, and good for the duel game. There is only one way to do it. There is enough lifting, says Tvedten. After a few years of success at PSG, the trip went to Kiel. Sagosen himself has said that he was up to 107 kilos when he played in the German big club. Precisely in order to have extra strength in duels against the biggest opponents, as a playmaker he must have a certain weight without it affecting resilience and speed. – It is the physically hardest league, because there are so many matches. It is no coincidence that he was up to 107 kilos there, but it was also a bit too much, because it affected the other things, Tvedten believes. When he went to Kolstad just over a year ago, he was told to go back down to under 100 kilos, to fit better for the Norwegian league. That is where he is now, and what is the appropriate Olympic weight, believes Sagosen himself. WENT DOWN: When Sander Sagosen went to Kolstad in 2023, he had to adapt his body to the Norwegian league. Photo: NTB Don’t emphasize the essentials He himself has a relaxed relationship with both food and weight, and does not feel that the topic is as scary as perhaps many people think. – I am a very open and honest person, I feel myself, and I do not feel that I have much to hide on my way to success. That has been the reality, but of course it’s more fun to talk about when things work well, explains Sagosen. But it is not the weight that has been the most important thing either. It has always been about the quest to find the best balance between muscle, explosiveness and endurance. – If I manage to have those kilos of muscle without it affecting my explosiveness and speed, then that’s the best. If it goes beyond my endurance, I might rather rest an extra two or three minutes per inning, says Sagosen. – Anyone who had mastered that balance would have been declared a genius. Handball is an enormously complex sport, states the national team’s physical trainer Eirik Haukali. TODAY’S DOUBLE: Sander Sagosen is Norway’s biggest star, and he has enormous expectations of himself. Photo: Anders Boine Verstad / news – Extremely large differences It is also very individual. Where soccer players are perhaps more similar, a runner must be built for endurance, and a basketball player wants height, it is almost impossible to define a “perfect” handball body. – It is one of the things that is so insanely funny about handball, that there are such extremely large differences between players who even play in the same position. You can be built completely differently from nature’s side and it is completely different how you want to build up your own physique. For a versatile player like Sagosen, it has been important to compromise and find out exactly what suits him best, somewhat depending on the team he plays for. But it can quickly become a dilemma, because Sagosen does not really feel that he has the best physical qualities. – I’m not very persistent. I’m not particularly explosive. I am not significantly stronger than everyone else. So that’s my overall package, which is really that I’m averagely good at everything, he states. But continuity and optimization, he is good at that. And to adapt training to your own body. For example, Sagosen has always struggled with “jumper’s knee”, something he has learned to take into account. He knows that it is not dangerous to train with a little pain, as long as he controls the load. The trainer calls this strength exercise “medicine” for Sagosen’s knees. He therefore often makes it to withstand higher loads. Sees potential for improvement Eirik Haukali came from ice hockey and has been physical trainer for the national team since last summer. He calls Sagosen a “powerhouse”, but also sees potential for improvement, especially when it comes to speed. All the national team players have received a specially adapted strength program until the Olympics, and on the Trønder’s schedule there is a focus on speed, more push and speed. Haukali believes that only small adjustments are needed. – He is very determined to get up to the level he had when he was the world’s best, says Haukali. FOLLOWING CLOSELY: The national team’s physical coach believes Sander Sagosen can get even better. Photo: Anders Boine Verstad / news They largely follow an old recipe for success, but they are a little more cynical in their choice of exercises and ensure that there is high quality in everything that is done. Like most people, Haukali is more concerned with relative muscle strength than body weight. – We must dare to push, while at the same time we must keep in mind that the most important thing is to stay healthy and injury-free, adds the coach. In 2018, the Norwegian, who then played in French PSG, was named the world’s best handball player. He himself feels that the peak was perhaps two years later. It’s the closest he’s come to finding the perfect one. Because during an injury period in autumn 2019, he was able to train explosively, at the same time that the fighting load decreased and he gained profit. AT THE TOP: Sander Sagosen secured the Champions League triumph with Germany’s Kiel in 2020. Earlier that year, he took EC bronze with Norway. Photo: Reuters Reached the top early This is the level he is working to get back to, of course preferably without an injury break. But it is not only Sagosen that has changed in 10 years. Handball is also constantly developing. – It’s about keeping up with the sport a bit too, so for my own part it might be about the fact that what I was in 2020 might not be as functional now in 2024. Then you might have to be a little lighter to be able to hang on with the pace set by many of the best players, he says. ROUTINED: Sander Sagosen has already been part of the national team for 10 years. Now he is participating in his second Olympics. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB news’s expert also believes that Sagosen was at his very best three or four years ago. And in order to improve speed, Tvedten points out that in the same way that Sagosen built himself up over several years, he must now spend time “building himself up” again. Nevertheless, he sees a challenge in getting back to the absolute top level. – If you think about physics, it is often the case that players who are good from an early age also reach their peak early. Then they can live on it over time, says Tvedten. He uses the French star Nikola Karabatic (40) as an example. He won the Champions League as an 18-year-old, and was named the world’s best player for the first time when he was 23. – Karabatic has lived on it for the rest of his career. He hasn’t been the best in the world after that, really, but among them. Sander is there a bit now. He was the best in the world in 2020, and maybe 2021, but now he has been picked up again a bit, says Håvard Tvedten. – Getting weaker and weaker Sagosen knows that, among other things, he needs more recovery now than when he broke through. Then he could train hard strength almost every day, he recalls. But now the body is different – and it is older. The match load with club, league, championship, national team and championship is still high. – At the age I am now, you get a little weaker and weaker, or you get more used to training at a slightly lower load. It costs a lot to train hard, and the most important thing for me as a handball player is to be injury-free, says the 28-year-old and highlights the training mentality as his greatest strength. PRESS ON: Sander Sagosen rarely if ever slacks off with his training. He can’t afford that. Photo: Anders Boine Verstad / news And how long does the body endure this hard drive to become almost perfect, to be the best in the world? Sagosen doesn’t really see many limitations. – I hope I will last another ten years, even if it is starting to take a long time. But I hope I can be in the game as long as my body feels good, that I think it’s fun and that I can make a difference. I think that is important for me mentally, that I feel I am involved and contributing.
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Sander Sagosen’s physical trilemma – thinks the perfect is impossible – Sport Langlesing
