The team captain Jamina Roberts is a bit late to the national handball team's press conference in Lund ahead of the upcoming European Championship in Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland.
This is due to her having had an X-ray of her injured foot at the hospital in Malmö – she is certain that the European Championship is not in danger – and also because the flight from Stockholm was delayed due to the snowstorm.
Roberts was in the capital on Wednesday for the recording of the talk show "Carina Bergfeldt", which is seen by over a million TV viewers on SVT on Friday evenings.
When I'm on (TV) they talk handball, I'm sweaty. You answer questions about a subject you're really comfortable with. This was something else, she says.
Brother was shot dead
Other guests on the program are comedian Anders "Ankan" Johansson, program leader Per Lernström, sexologist Malena Ivarsson, and musician Albin Lee Meldau.
It was very relaxed. Even though I'm a bit uncomfortable in myself in such contexts, I think it's fun to be involved. There are other guests you interact with.
The program also touches on sensitive topics, such as Jamina Roberts has talked about in interviews before. When she was ten years old, her 15-year-old half-brother Daniel was shot dead on a street in Gothenburg. This is also addressed in a fresh mini-documentary produced by the European Handball Federation, where her father James also participates.
I think it was really nice that dad was involved so much, he was involved almost more than me, says Jamina Roberts with a smile.
The TV sofa is not the only new context the 34-year-old has ended up in this week. Roberts is a comic book character in the new issue of Kalle Anka & Co.
It's clear that it's fun. It's not many interviews you read out loud for Lou (daughter) or grandchildren, but this is something I can take with me and frame almost.
Approaching championship record
For a long time, Isabelle "Bella" Gulldén was the poster girl of Swedish handball, but after she retired in 2020, Roberts has taken over. Also as the carrying star on the pitch.
I haven't had it as a goal. It's the same with Bella, she has performed herself to the face outward that she is and was. It's connected, I suppose.
Talk show, comic book character in Kalle Anka, and now you're approaching Magnus Wislander's record of 18 championships – do you feel comfortable with the fact that a kind of icon status is being built around you?
No. I don't understand it really when I'm sitting in it. It's maybe afterwards when you've stopped that you'll appreciate it and that it was big. Right now, I feel: I'm going to play handball.
Born: May 28, 1990.
Position: Left nine.
Clubs: Sävehof (–2014, 2016–2017, 2020–2022), Tvis Holstebro, Denmark (2014–2016), Erdi, Hungary (2017–2018), Randers, Denmark (2018–2020), Vipers Kristiansand, Norway (2022–).
A-international matches/goals: 244/641.
Championship debut: European Championship 2010.
Number of championships: Making her 18th (4 Olympic Games, 6 World Championships, and 8 European Championships).
Medals: European Championship silver 2010, European Championship bronze 2014.
Other merits: Player of the Year 2022 and 2023.
Sweden's group stage matches:
28/11: North Macedonia.
30/11: Hungary.
2/12: Turkey.
Sweden plays its group stage and potential intermediate round in Debrecen, Hungary. The two top teams in six four-team groups advance to the intermediate round, where two six-team groups are created.
The two top teams in the six-team groups advance to the semifinals, which, like the medal matches, are played in Vienna, Austria.
The European Championship takes place from November 28 to December 15.
The women's handball team warms up with two national team matches against Poland, on November 23 in Ystad and the day after in Lund.
