When SVT Sport reaches Mikael Appelgren, 31, he will soon complete his only second training session down in Mannheim, Germany, in just over a year.

Instead of neither playing with Rhein-Neckar Löwen nor participating in Blågult's WC successes, where it was Swedish silver, he has had to devote himself to rehab.

A finger operation was followed by a shoulder injury that also required an operation.

In addition, Appelgren has had a troubled knee - and has been covid.

- It was tough not to be the handball player Mikael Appelgren, but instead ask the question "what should I do now with my days and my time?".

There was a small identity crisis on the purchase of being injured.

But in the end it has been very developing, says Appelgren and continues:

- There were no adrenaline kicks at matches and no training that stimulated me.

You had to try to invent other things.

I started studying and tried to get out in a different way when you could not do it physically.

What have you studied?

- English and sports management, so you have something to invent.

I hope to be able to do something after my career that has to do with handball.

It feels important to have something on the side and something for the future.

Can play on Sunday

Before Appelgren is there, an Olympics awaits first and foremost.

The Swedish handball squad will be taken out next Friday, and Appelgren hopes for playing time with the club team, which has four games left of the season.

- I believe and hope that I can be part of three of them.

But I have just started to train handball to the fullest, I want to feel that I can do some training and feel that my body has the strength and can handle the load.

Already on Sunday, Rhein-Neckar Löwen will play, but probably without Mikael Appelgren.

Or?

- We have some injury concerns in the team, it feels like some kind of emergency solution.

But I want to feel a hundred and it should be good conditions.

But it is not a clear no ...

- It depends a bit on the other goalkeepers. Now we have our two other goalkeepers (David Späth and Nikolas Katsigiannis, in addition to national team colleague Andreas Palicka) injured and they need some time to recover. It can be on the finish line, says Appelgren.