At only 21, he played in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League for the first time, and became a sensation right away. 30 goals, including 11 at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 alone with Aalborg, and some performances that got him a deserved place in the Denmark national team for the Olympics. And to put the cherry on top, Arnoldsen won gold in Paris.
“To me, all of this is even crazier since I did not play in the first part of the season due to stress symptoms. The EHF FINAL4, the Olympics, those were things I only dreamt of not so long ago. I never thought I would be able to be part of it, especially so soon,” says the young centre back.
But not only did Arnoldsen achieve all those things with both Aalborg and Denmark, but by joining the club in 2023 from fellow Danish side Skanderborg-Aarhus, he was also able to move to a team where some of his childhood heroes were playing. “Of course, when I was a little boy, I wanted to be Mikkel Hansen, so to play with him for a season was a big plus. These players, like Mikkel or Niklas Landin, give so much to me in terms of experience, for example, that it’s invaluable,” smiles Arnoldsen. “I hope I can take a lot of the things that Mikkel and Niklas have taught me in the future.”
And the very near future, for Thomas Arnoldsen and Aalborg, is the start of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League on Wednesday, with the first Match of the Week (MOTW) against HBC Nantes. We left the young Danish centre back distraught after his team had just lost the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 final to Barça at the start of June. How hard was it for him to digest such a disappointment? “It was so close, it took us weeks to recover, but in the meantime, I am really proud of what we achieved as a team. When we arrived in Cologne, everybody thought we would not make it past the semi-final and still, we did. Playing that final, even though we lost it, gave us a lot of confidence for the future.”
But not only did it give the Aalborg players a lot of confidence, but it also motivated them even more to come back. “When I came back at the first training after the Olympics, I told myself that we had to train 10 per cent harder if we wanted another chance at the trophy. Last season was fantastic, but we want this one to be even greater. We know it is really tough to even reach the EHF FINAL4, we need to train and play really good every day to become the first Danish team to win the EHF Champions League.”
