Handball ageless wonder: Norway's record-breaker Katrine Lunde still going strong at 43
The goalkeeper is one of the most decorated handball players of all time. Olympics.com takes a look at some of her incredible achievements, and two players who have played with and against her describe what makes Lunde so unique.
Age is just a number, a cliché heard thousands of times.
Yet, for handball goalkeeper Katrine Lunde of Norway, the overused saying rings true as she features at the 2023 World Women's Handball Championship at the age of 43.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist still has one and a half years left of her contract with her club Vipers Kristiansand, with whom she has won the past three editions of the EHF Champions League.
Lunde will celebrate her 45th birthday before the contract expires: “I have been involved in the sport for a long time and have a daughter, who needs some time, and a husband, who has lived abroad a lot. So, it's more the overall situation. But now both are happy,” Lunde said with a laugh to the Norwegian newspaper VG.
Despite her ongoing success, the Norwegian star announced that Paris 2024 will be her last competition with the national team.
“It is difficult to give up on the national team. It's crazy fun. So, I want to be here. But I’m not sure. Suddenly, it’s summer and then it’s Christmas again,” she said without ruling out yet another championship with her compatriots.
Katrine Lunde: I never thought that I had to be the best in handball
Katrine Lunde and her twin sister Kristine , who also has played for the Norwegian national team, started playing handball when they were 9 years old, because their classmates needed some players to join their team.
When the Lunde twins became teenagers their local team in Kristiansand suddenly started beating the best in the country.
The sisters always backed each other up and played together for several years during their professional careers.
In 2002, Katrine Lunde debuted for the Norway women's national handball team, and from there her career has taken her to the biggest clubs in Denmark, Hungary, Russia and back to where it all started in Vipers Kristiansand.
Her achievements speak for themselves. Two Olympic gold medals, two world titles, six European Championships and seven-time Champions League winner. No handballer has won as many European Championship gold medals and Champions League titles.
“I never thought that I had to be the best in handball, I just enjoyed it, enjoyed the positive feedback from people and enjoyed what succeeding at this level was giving back to us,” Katrine Lune told the EHF website.
At the 2023 World Championship, Lunde has just reached 348 games for the Norwegian national team – which is more than any other player.
Following an extraordinary performance in this year’s Champions League, Lunde was named the EHF Excellence Awards MVP as the best player of the season – aged 43.
Colleagues praise Katrine Lunde for her mentality
Lunde’s achievements are admired by many of her colleagues in handball. One of them is Markéta Jeřábková of Czechia, who played with Lunde for two years in Vipers winning the Champions League twice together.
The 2022 Champions League Final Four MVP shared her thoughts on her former teammate at the 2023 World Championship.
“For me, she is one of the best athletes in the world, because how she's doing her job,” Jeřábková told Olympics.com. She means a lot for the team, and I think all her teammates will a agree with me. I am just really proud and happy that I could meet her and play with her.
“I don't think that a lot of athletes have the same mentality, does the same preparation, and has the same passion for the sport. It’s incredible that she just continues, and it's motivating for every athlete to see.”
Lunde’s current teammate in Vipers, 2019 world champion Lois Abbingh from the Netherlands, also praises the goalkeeper. They have played together since this summer but have faced each other numerous times as opponents during Abbingh's career
“It’s nice that I finally play with her and not against, her” Abbingh said. “I have a huge respect for her, because she's really one of the best in history. She is still so motivated to win everything, and that’s why she's still there, and why she's still so good.”
“With her you can feel her winning mentality in every training. It’s not only about the games, we need to do everything right even in trainings. She has a true winning mentality. I think that you can learn a lot from her, especially young girls. She’s passing this winning character through to the younger generation.”
Katrine Lunde has featured in five games for Norway at the 2023 World Women's Handball Championship.
Katrine Lunde: “I have a pure passion for this sport”
Where does the longevity and success of Lunde’s career come from?
The Norwegian star expresses that it all comes down to her love of handball.
“I have a pure passion for this sport, and I love to train, to watch all the details. I feel the positive energy when I am coming to the training with all these amazing girls that I have been playing with,” she said in an interview with the EHF.
“I am still going strong and what motivates me is simple enough. I like to be on the court, I like training and I like the handball life.”
Norway and Lunde have qualified for the semi-finals at the 2023 World Women's Handball Championship. They will face either Denmark or Montenegro on 15 December. The final takes place on 17 December in Herning, Denmark.