– Will be completely shocked – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

“Now you have to wake up. This is too bad. Start school again! Boxing is not something to bet on if you don’t understand that the way you box now won’t get you there”

– When I hear it again now, I am completely shocked, says Sunniva Hofstad to NRK.

This is among several critical messages the 19-year-old says she and the coach have received on the way to her historic achievement.

This summer, Hofstad will be one of 125 female boxers in the Olympics in Paris. She thus becomes the first Norwegian female boxer in the Olympics after the sport was included in the Olympic program in 2012.

Then there is praise from professional boxer Cecilia Brækhus.

– She has great talent, but almost even more important is that she has an understanding of the work that needs to be done, and the patience and willingness to follow it up, says Brækhus to NRK.

Being criticized for the technique

But Hofstad has noticed that not everyone likes what she does. She gets thin for the way she boxes.

She and the trainer talk about several critical messages:

“You won’t get anywhere if you don’t raise your hands”.

“Sunniva was good as a junior, but as a senior she must have her hands up.”

– It’s clear that such comments can become a bit like this: “hmm, yes, I should wake up, is this too bad?”, says Hofstad.

The background is Hofstad’s boxing technique. Because in the boxing ring she often let her arms hang low and was not up in a defensive position at the face, a so-called “guard”. That’s what she gets criticized for.

On the other hand, Hofstad receives support from Brækhus.

– It’s perfectly fine to box with your hands down in amateur boxing where the gloves and helmet are thick. You must of course have good reflexes and be comfortable with it. I don’t think that will be a problem. Sunniva shows time and time again that she can master it, she says.

People can say what they want

– There are many who have said that she needs to raise her hands, says coach Ole-Arne Næsgård, who has been Hofstad’s coach since 2019.

He tells about several messages of the same kind.

– It’s been a bit like “oh, please”. I thought now we should “better you” show them. So it was a bit good too, then, I have to admit it, says Næsgård about when they managed to qualify for the Olympics, and continued:

– There are some trainers who have been in the comment section and write that “now they have to get their hands up”. Both in our inbox and in open comment fields.

Hofstad herself believes that she is in the flow when she boxes with her hands down.

– The sight is getting better. All my reviews are getting better in many ways. When I box with my hands up, I often become the “other boxer”. I feel like I can’t reach forward and that I miss and get hit, says Hofsad.

– People can say what they want. Because I know the outcome for myself anyway. And now they probably have a slightly different perspective when I have qualified for the Olympics with my hands down, she says and smiles slyly.

First time since 1996

Together with 25-year-old Omar Shiha, Hofstad will thus defend Norway’s honor in the boxing ring in Paris. It is the first time since 1996 that someone with a Norwegian passport has boxed in an Olympics.

The Olympic participation pleases Cecilia Brækhus.

– It is a big and real boost for the boxing association and boxing in general in Norway. I both hope and believe it will lead to an increase in recruitment to the sport, she says.

When she was an amateur boxer herself, she also dreamed of the Olympics, but at that time female boxers were not allowed to participate.

– At first, medical reasons were the argument for preventing girls from participating. When they argued that of course it didn’t hold water, we were told that girls weren’t good enough, she says and continued:

– There was of course a gap between women’s boxing and men’s boxing, but as soon as the Olympics became legal for girls, recruitment naturally exploded. In addition to the fact that resources and funds found their way to women’s boxing.