STRONG: Sander Sagosen shared his thoughts on the tragedy in 2011. Photo: Bjørn Steinar Delebekk, VG
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TOKYO (VG) 10 years after the terrorist attack in 2011, national team captain Bjarte Myrhol (39) and superstar Sander Sagosen (25) think of the victims and their relatives.
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At 06.30 Norwegian time here in Japan’s capital, four of the national team’s most important players met for a press conference together with coach Christian Berge (48).
The handball boys are in place to participate in the men’s national team’s first Olympics in 49 years – but today the thoughts go to the victims after July 22, 2011.
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– I remember the day as it should have been yesterday, says Myrhol, who describes the question from NTB as “painful”.
– It hit me in the face one day at a training camp with Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Many tears were shed that day. I can do nothing but send all the thoughts one has to the relatives and everyone who was affected. It is one of the blackest days in Norwegian history, says the captain.
—-IN JAPAN: Magnus Jøndal, Myrhol and Berge were among the five from the men’s national team who posed for a press conference on Thursday. Photo: Bjørn Steinar Delebekk, VG
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– Terribly sad
Three places to the left of Myrhol sat Sagosen. He is recognized as the world’s best handball player. In 2011, the Trøndelag resident sat in Spain and heard that girls of the same age and boys had been killed in Norway. A total of 77 people lost their lives in the explosion at the government quarter and the attack on Utøya.
– It is one of the blackest days in my life and in Norwegian history, Sagosen says to VG.
The stay in Spain immediately changed to deal with the tragedy in Norway.
– It was terribly sad. I was on vacation. I sat in front of the computer for a week to see what had happened. We are still thinking about the relatives who have been through a tough time, says the 25-year-old.
—-OL-READY: Jøndal, Myrhol, Berge, Petter Øverby and Sagosen pictured in Tokyo on Thursday. Photo: Bjørn Steinar Delebekk, VG
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Quiet press room
About twenty journalists and cameramen were present in the hall on the outskirts of the center of the world’s largest city with its 38 million inhabitants. When Myrhol and Sagosen talked about July 22, it was completely quiet.
VG’s Olympic studio: Get the latest news here
Saturday at 02.00 Norwegian time, the handball boys open the championship with a match against Brazil. They are expected to win it, and the team states that they are going for Olympic gold.
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