{"id":180666,"date":"2025-09-04T02:31:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T14:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:40:08","slug":"study-hard-tackle-harder-copenhagens-rugby-rebels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/study-hard-tackle-harder-copenhagens-rugby-rebels\/","title":{"rendered":"Study hard, tackle harder: Copenhagen\u2019s rugby rebels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00bbIt sends a shiver down my spine when you talk about it.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Kinza Olsen Riahi is sitting with Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, and is describing that particular day when two University of Copenhagen (UCPH) students were a part of a Danish rugby sensation.<\/p>\n

With a silver medal at this year\u2019s European Championship in the second-best division, Denmark\u2019s national women\u2019s team didn\u2019t just make it to the podium. Their win promoted them to the top European rugby league \u2014 the Championship division \u2014 something no Danish rugby team, male or female, has ever achieved before.<\/p>\n

The two women don’t just have physical training in their schedules. They are not only top-level athletes, they are full-time students at UCPH.<\/p>\n

The University Post met up with them to find out how they manage a dual career in sports and academia \u2014 and what kinds of compromises it requires.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest packed lunch<\/h3>\n

Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens has just submitted her bachelor\u2019s thesis in medicine, while Kinza Olsen Riahi is starting her fifth semester in political science.<\/p>\n

At university, Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens is known as \u00bbthe one with the big backpack\u00ab as she lugs around a traveller\u2019s pack big enough to fit her study materials, workout clothes for the whole day, and what she calls \u00bbthe world\u2019s biggest packed lunch\u00ab.<\/p>\n

When she is asked to recount the schedule for a typical day, it makes you breathless. \u00bbAt 6:45 am I show up at Bispebjerg Hospital, where I work as a blood sample technician. Before that I\u2019ve already done a morning workout, and after my hospital shift I head straight to university to be ready for a 10:00 lecture. At 5:30 pm I leave Panum and go to my club for two hours of training, and I\u2019m usually home again by around nine\u00ab.<\/p>\n

It may not be a student job, but it still gives you some really valuable skills.<\/p>\n

Kinza Olsen Riahi<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kinza Olsen Riahi has had to do without a student job \u2014 something that can be hard for her to accept when she compares herself to her peers:<\/p>\n

\u00bbDamn, all my classmates have these great student jobs \u2014 and what do I have?\u00ab she says, adding that she hopes her subject, political science, and her sport can one day be combined with her interest in diplomacy.<\/p>\n

She appreciates the flexibility of her study programme, a supportive study group, and a weekly day off this semester that helps her pull it all together again:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWhen we train two to three hours a day and every weekend is packed with full-day tournaments or training, I haven\u2019t had time to recharge, read ahead, do laundry, shop \u2014 any of it. Mondays are when I catch up on all that,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n

As we write this article, the university is abuzz with new students being led around campus by enthusiastic tutor groups. If her sport didn\u2019t take up so many hours of the day, Kinza Olsen Riahi says she would have loved to be a tutor too.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s really important for me to be social, and I try to make time to show up for the Thursday bars after training,\u00ab she says. She also had to skip her department\u2019s formal ball because of a rugby event.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Student of social sciences: \u00bbI honestly wish I had 48 hours in a day\u00ab<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

Getting support, a constant grind<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s frustrating to have to compromise on the studying and the education programme. On this, the two athletes are in agreement. Neither of them sees their studies as a plan B in case their sports careers don\u2019t work out. They hope to excel as much with their books as on the rugby field.<\/p>\n

But it isn\u2019t always easy to pursue two big dreams at the same time:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIf you want to compete in sport at a high level, you need to be a perfectionist and give it everything you\u2019ve got. But it\u2019s hard to perform well both in your studies and in your sport. So I really have to fight to believe it when I tell myself it\u2019s okay to fail an exam,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, who also often misses birthdays and parties.<\/p>\n

Neither Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens nor Kinza Olsen Riahi are a part of the UCPH support scheme for elite athletes, KU Professionals, which is run in collaboration with the national support organisation Team Denmark.<\/p>\n

Suddenly I felt like I belonged, instead of feeling wrong for being broad-shouldered and muscular.<\/p>\n

Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rugby is too small a sport to be affiliated with Team Denmark, something that Kinza Olsen Riahi says is \u00bba real shame.\u00ab<\/p>\n

And Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens had already been at university for nearly three years before she even heard about the UCPH scheme, which she now plans to look into during her master\u2019s degree. Whether it\u2019s even possible to join without Team Denmark\u2019s backing is still uncertain.<\/p>\n

With visits to eight different countries in the past eleven weeks in service of rugby, she\u2019s worried about how the compulsory clinical placements in her master\u2019s programme might affect her coming year on the rugby field.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s not that UCPH in any way obstructs the combination of studies and elite sports,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens:<\/p>\n

\u00bbBut more transparency and information about the opportunities UCPH students actually have would be really helpful,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

Small sport, big volunteer effort<\/h3>\n

The Danish women\u2019s national team now has a more professional setup \u2014 but this has not always been the case.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s European Championships came with a personal cost of around DKK 4,500 for each player \u2014 a sum that had to be paid on top of all the other expenses already stretching a tight student budget.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Save more, live more: Student budget hacks for Copenhagen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

There is financial disparity between the men\u2019s and the women\u2019s games: Men are sometimes paid to join invitational teams abroad, \u00bbwhile we have to pay for our own plane tickets,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n

Part of the national team \u2018job description\u2019 involves putting in extra volunteer hours \u2014 finding sponsors just to be able to take part in major tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s really only in the past two years that we\u2019ve managed to get enough funding to train and commit the hours it takes to perform at the same level as the biggest rugby nations,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, pointing to the support team now behind them \u2014 including a manager, a strength and conditioning coach, and physiotherapists.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: The power of numbers: Woman, know your stats<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The European Championship tournament<\/p>\n

There are three divisions, from lowest to highest level: Conference<\/em>, Trophy<\/em>, and Championship<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The format is Sevens<\/em>, with seven players on the field, five substitutes, and one reserve.<\/p>\n

Each match lasts two halves of seven minutes with a one-minute break in between, and six matches are played over three days.<\/p>\n

The tournament consists of two rounds. Final rankings determine podium placements, and the top two teams are promoted to the next division.<\/p>\n

There are currently about 2,500 active rugby players<\/a> in Denmark \u2014 by comparison, soccer had nearly 375,000 registered members<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The two silver medallists agree that the ideal scenario would be to focus solely on the sport and not all the logistics surrounding it. But they are quick to see the bright side:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThat\u2019s part of the charm of playing a niche sport \u2014 we all have to pitch in together,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n

And when asked what the absolute best part of rugby is, they both chime in: \u00bbThe community!\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe enter the pitch as one. I can\u2019t do anything if the others aren\u2019t with me \u2014 we\u2019re all connected on the grass,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi, and Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens adds that they forge lifelong friendships \u2014 even across national borders.<\/p>\n

And Kinza Olsen Riahi points out that the volunteer work isn\u2019t in vain either:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt may not be a student job, but you gain some really great skills from it \u2014 learning to organise, take responsibility, and communicate.\u00ab<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Young, brilliant, and tired of being underestimated<\/em><\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Love for the sport \u2014 and the body<\/h3>\n

Kinza Olsen Riahi’s own path to rugby comes from primary school, and the promise of a school trip to London. If pupils showed up and joined training, they were allowed to take part in a school rugby tournament in the heart of the great English rugby nation. The trip ended up being cancelled \u2014 but by then, a spark had already been lit in Kinza. Now, after ten years in sweaty rugby gear, she\u2019s still fired up.<\/p>\n

For Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, it all began with an exchange trip to the US, where she was the only woman out of 40 players on an American-style football team.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt was both an awesome and a tough experience,\u00ab she says. When she came home, a neighbour dragged her along to rugby training.<\/p>\n

\u00bbSuddenly I found myself surrounded by loads of really cool women \u2014 and I loved it,\u00ab she says, adding that meeting female rugby players challenged certain gender norms:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThese were women using their bodies in a sport that\u2019s typically seen as being for men. And they could still be feminine and wear dresses off the field. Then these badass<\/em> women would step out onto the grass and show how it\u2019s done. All of a sudden, I felt like I belonged instead of feeling wrong for being broad-shouldered and muscular,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens.
\n
\nAll body types are welcome \u2014 and celebrated \u2014 in rugby. One particular episode from this year\u2019s European Championship clearly shows the female athletes\u2019 relaxed relationship with their bodies:<\/p>\n

All players had to be weighed before and after both breakfast and matches to monitor how much fluid they were losing, as the temperature hit 35 degrees Celsius. If anyone didn\u2019t want to do it, that was respected \u2014 but it was never an issue, says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere\u2019s no shame in weighing 80 or 85 kilos \u2014 it almost turned into a competition over who could eat the most at the breakfast buffet,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

Kinza Olsen Riahi adds that the men\u2019s coach dropped by during the final days and pointed out that the weighing could be problematic and borderline body shaming<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThat\u2019s a total misunderstanding. It\u2019s incredibly important for us to track. If I\u2019ve lost more than a kilo after a match, I seriously need to go hydrate so I don\u2019t lose performance before the next game,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

The pressure to perform is only going to increase in the near future. Turkey snatched the gold right in front of Denmark at this year\u2019s European Championship, so when the Danish national women\u2019s team gets their chance for revenge in the Championship division, they are motivated:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe don’t want to get relegated,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, and adds:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt will be Turkey that goes down \u2014 when we beat them.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 1 September 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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Kr\u00f8ll Sebens (left) and Kinza Olsen Riahi (right) play for the Danish national rugby team and have been part of the squad for two and five years respectively."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Top of Europe","text":"To bomst\u00e6rke KU-studerende skrev rugbyhistorie, da de vandt s\u00f8lv til Danmark. Vi har m\u00f8dt dem til en snak om konkurrence, kroppe og benh\u00e5rd kalenderstyring mellem studieliv og nichesport.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>\u00bbIt sends a shiver down my spine when you talk about it.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Kinza Olsen Riahi is sitting with Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, and is describing that particular day when two University of Copenhagen (UCPH) students were a part of a Danish rugby sensation.<\/p>\n<p>With a silver medal at this year\u2019s European Championship in the second-best division, Denmark\u2019s national women\u2019s team didn\u2019t just make it to the podium. Their win promoted them to the top European rugby league \u2014 the Championship division \u2014 something no Danish rugby team, male or female, has ever achieved before.<\/p>\n<p>The two women don’t just have physical training in their schedules. They are not only top-level athletes, they are full-time students at UCPH.<\/p>\n<p>The University Post met up with them to find out how they manage a dual career in sports and academia \u2014 and what kinds of compromises it requires.<\/p>\n<h3>The world\u2019s biggest packed lunch<\/h3>\n<p>Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens has just submitted her bachelor\u2019s thesis in medicine, while Kinza Olsen Riahi is starting her fifth semester in political science.<\/p>\n<p>At university, Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens is known as \u00bbthe one with the big backpack\u00ab as she lugs around a traveller\u2019s pack big enough to fit her study materials, workout clothes for the whole day, and what she calls \u00bbthe world\u2019s biggest packed lunch\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>When she is asked to recount the schedule for a typical day, it makes you breathless. \u00bbAt 6:45 am I show up at Bispebjerg Hospital, where I work as a blood sample technician. Before that I\u2019ve already done a morning workout, and after my hospital shift I head straight to university to be ready for a 10:00 lecture. At 5:30 pm I leave Panum and go to my club for two hours of training, and I\u2019m usually home again by around nine\u00ab.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It may not be a student job, but it still gives you some really valuable skills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Kinza Olsen Riahi<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Kinza Olsen Riahi has had to do without a student job \u2014 something that can be hard for her to accept when she compares herself to her peers:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbDamn, all my classmates have these great student jobs \u2014 and what do I have?\u00ab she says, adding that she hopes her subject, political science, and her sport can one day be combined with her interest in diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>She appreciates the flexibility of her study programme, a supportive study group, and a weekly day off this semester that helps her pull it all together again:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWhen we train two to three hours a day and every weekend is packed with full-day tournaments or training, I haven\u2019t had time to recharge, read ahead, do laundry, shop \u2014 any of it. Mondays are when I catch up on all that,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n<p>As we write this article, the university is abuzz with new students being led around campus by enthusiastic tutor groups. If her sport didn\u2019t take up so many hours of the day, Kinza Olsen Riahi says she would have loved to be a tutor too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s really important for me to be social, and I try to make time to show up for the Thursday bars after training,\u00ab she says. She also had to skip her department\u2019s formal ball because of a rugby event.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-of-social-sciences-i-honestly-wish-i-had-48-hours-in-a-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Student of social sciences: \u00bbI honestly wish I had 48 hours in a day\u00ab<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"MultiImage","images":[{"image":{"ID":180531,"id":180531,"title":"startposition rugby","filename":"startpositionjpgredigeretogkippet-scaled.jpg","filesize":794622,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/startpositionjpgredigeretogkippet-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/startpositionjpg-redigeret-og-kippet\/","alt":"","author":"108","description":"","caption":"","name":"startpositionjpg-redigeret-og-kippet","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":180515,"date":"2025-08-27 11:10:31","modified":"2025-08-27 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fierce on the field, but \u00bbas soon as the whistle blows, we thank each other for the game \u2014 and we\u2019re good to go,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi."},{"image":{"ID":180527,"id":180527,"title":"malou skyder","filename":"malouskyderredigeretogklippet-scaled.jpg","filesize":945704,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/malou-skyder-redigeret-og-klippet\/","alt":"","author":"108","description":"","caption":"","name":"malou-skyder-redigeret-og-klippet","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":180515,"date":"2025-08-27 11:10:19","modified":"2025-08-27 11:27:10","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1705,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-1280x852.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":852,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-1536x1023.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-2048x1364.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-700x466.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":466,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/malouskyderredigeretogklippet-990x659.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":659}},"caption_prefix":"Karate chops and rugby kicks","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Before rugby, Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens competed in elite-level karate."},{"image":{"ID":180529,"id":180529,"title":"ruck redigeret og klkippet","filename":"ruckredigeretogklkippet-scaled.jpg","filesize":687633,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/ruck-redigeret-og-klkippet\/","alt":"","author":"108","description":"","caption":"Noget med ruck","name":"ruck-redigeret-og-klkippet","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":180515,"date":"2025-08-27 11:10:24","modified":"2025-08-27 11:10:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1705,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-1536x1023.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-2048x1364.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-700x466.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":466,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ruckredigeretogklkippet-990x659.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":659}},"caption_prefix":"Contact sport","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"In a \u2018ruck\u2019 over the ball, players get up close and personal."}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<h3>Getting support, a constant grind<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s frustrating to have to compromise on the studying and the education programme. On this, the two athletes are in agreement. Neither of them sees their studies as a plan B in case their sports careers don\u2019t work out. They hope to excel as much with their books as on the rugby field.<\/p>\n<p>But it isn\u2019t always easy to pursue two big dreams at the same time:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf you want to compete in sport at a high level, you need to be a perfectionist and give it everything you\u2019ve got. But it\u2019s hard to perform well both in your studies and in your sport. So I really have to fight to believe it when I tell myself it\u2019s okay to fail an exam,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, who also often misses birthdays and parties.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens nor Kinza Olsen Riahi are a part of the UCPH support scheme for elite athletes, KU Professionals, which is run in collaboration with the national support organisation Team Denmark.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Suddenly I felt like I belonged, instead of feeling wrong for being broad-shouldered and muscular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Rugby is too small a sport to be affiliated with Team Denmark, something that Kinza Olsen Riahi says is \u00bba real shame.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>And Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens had already been at university for nearly three years before she even heard about the UCPH scheme, which she now plans to look into during her master\u2019s degree. Whether it\u2019s even possible to join without Team Denmark\u2019s backing is still uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>With visits to eight different countries in the past eleven weeks in service of rugby, she\u2019s worried about how the compulsory clinical placements in her master\u2019s programme might affect her coming year on the rugby field.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s not that UCPH in any way obstructs the combination of studies and elite sports,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut more transparency and information about the opportunities UCPH students actually have would be really helpful,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>Small sport, big volunteer effort<\/h3>\n<p>The Danish women\u2019s national team now has a more professional setup \u2014 but this has not always been the case.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s European Championships came with a personal cost of around DKK 4,500 for each player \u2014 a sum that had to be paid on top of all the other expenses already stretching a tight student budget.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/save-more-live-more-student-budget-hacks-for-copenhagen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Save more, live more: Student budget hacks for Copenhagen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>There is financial disparity between the men\u2019s and the women\u2019s games: Men are sometimes paid to join invitational teams abroad, \u00bbwhile we have to pay for our own plane tickets,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the national team \u2018job description\u2019 involves putting in extra volunteer hours \u2014 finding sponsors just to be able to take part in major tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s really only in the past two years that we\u2019ve managed to get enough funding to train and commit the hours it takes to perform at the same level as the biggest rugby nations,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, pointing to the support team now behind them \u2014 including a manager, a strength and conditioning coach, and physiotherapists.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/the-power-of-numbers-woman-know-your-stats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The power of numbers: Woman, know your stats<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">The European Championship tournament<\/p>\n<p>There are three divisions, from lowest to highest level: <em>Conference<\/em>, <em>Trophy<\/em>, and <em>Championship<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The format is <em>Sevens<\/em>, with seven players on the field, five substitutes, and one reserve.<\/p>\n<p>Each match lasts two halves of seven minutes with a one-minute break in between, and six matches are played over three days.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament consists of two rounds. Final rankings determine podium placements, and the top two teams are promoted to the next division.<\/p>\n<p>There are currently about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamletrugby.dk\/klub\/hamlet-rugby-klub\/sider\/rugby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2,500 active rugby players<\/a> in Denmark \u2014 by comparison, soccer had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dbu.dk\/nyheder\/2024\/april\/dansk-fodbold-saetter-igen-medlemsrekord\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nearly 375,000 registered members<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The two silver medallists agree that the ideal scenario would be to focus solely on the sport and not all the logistics surrounding it. But they are quick to see the bright side:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat\u2019s part of the charm of playing a niche sport \u2014 we all have to pitch in together,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi.<\/p>\n<p>And when asked what the absolute best part of rugby is, they both chime in: \u00bbThe community!\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe enter the pitch as one. I can\u2019t do anything if the others aren\u2019t with me \u2014 we\u2019re all connected on the grass,\u00ab says Kinza Olsen Riahi, and Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens adds that they forge lifelong friendships \u2014 even across national borders.<\/p>\n<p>And Kinza Olsen Riahi points out that the volunteer work isn\u2019t in vain either:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt may not be a student job, but you gain some really great skills from it \u2014 learning to organise, take responsibility, and communicate.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/young-brilliant-and-tired-of-being-underestimated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Young, brilliant, and tired of being underestimated<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"MultiImage","images":[{"image":{"ID":180537,"id":180537,"title":"Kinza.Sofie klippet.","filename":"kinza.sofieklippet-scaled.jpg","filesize":677830,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/kinza-sofie-klippet\/","alt":"","author":"108","description":"","caption":"Sofie Snekkersten til vejrs, der som f\u00e6rdiguddanet l\u00e6ge fra KU, m\u00e5tte flyve hjem lige inden finalekampen for at afgive l\u00e6gel\u00f8fte. ","name":"kinza-sofie-klippet","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":180515,"date":"2025-08-27 11:39:49","modified":"2025-08-27 11:44:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1703,"height":2560,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-480x721.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":721,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-768x1154.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1154,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-1280x1924.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":1924,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-1022x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-1363x2048.jpg","2048x2048-width":1363,"2048x2048-height":2048,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-290x436.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":436,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-700x1052.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":1052,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kinza.sofieklippet-990x1488.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":1488}},"caption_prefix":"From lift to Hippocratic oath","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Teammate Sofie Snekkersten goes airborne. As a newly qualified doctor, she had to fly home just before the final to take the medical oath at the University of Copenhagen."},{"image":{"ID":180534,"id":180534,"title":"holdbillede","filename":"holdbillede-scaled.jpg","filesize":825513,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kus-vinder-kvinder\/holdbillede\/","alt":"","author":"108","description":"","caption":"Det danske landshold under EM Moldova. \u201dVi er meget heldige, at vi har Vikinor som vores nye sponsor \u2013 de tror virkelig p\u00e5 vores ambitioner og m\u00e5l, og har bakket op om os med rigtigt mange penge\u201d, siger Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens. ","name":"holdbillede","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":180515,"date":"2025-08-27 11:32:27","modified":"2025-08-27 11:35:38","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":2002,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-480x375.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":375,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-768x601.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":601,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-1280x1001.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":1001,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-1536x1201.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1201,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-2048x1602.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1602,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-290x227.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":227,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-700x547.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":547,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/holdbillede-990x774.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":774}},"caption_prefix":"Helping hand","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"\u00bbWe\u2019re lucky to have Vikinor as a sponsor \u2014 they really believe in our ambitions and goals, and have backed us with serious funding,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens."}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<h3>Love for the sport \u2014 and the body<\/h3>\n<p>Kinza Olsen Riahi’s own path to rugby comes from primary school, and the promise of a school trip to London. If pupils showed up and joined training, they were allowed to take part in a school rugby tournament in the heart of the great English rugby nation. The trip ended up being cancelled \u2014 but by then, a spark had already been lit in Kinza. Now, after ten years in sweaty rugby gear, she\u2019s still fired up.<\/p>\n<p>For Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, it all began with an exchange trip to the US, where she was the only woman out of 40 players on an American-style football team.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt was both an awesome and a tough experience,\u00ab she says. When she came home, a neighbour dragged her along to rugby training.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSuddenly I found myself surrounded by loads of really cool women \u2014 and I loved it,\u00ab she says, adding that meeting female rugby players challenged certain gender norms:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThese were women using their bodies in a sport that\u2019s typically seen as being for men. And they could still be feminine and wear dresses off the field. Then these <em>badass<\/em> women would step out onto the grass and show how it\u2019s done. All of a sudden, I felt like I belonged instead of feeling wrong for being broad-shouldered and muscular,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"That\u2019s part of the charm of playing a small niche sport \u2014 we all have to pull together.","quotee":"Kinza Olsen Riahi","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>All body types are welcome \u2014 and celebrated \u2014 in rugby. One particular episode from this year\u2019s European Championship clearly shows the female athletes\u2019 relaxed relationship with their bodies:<\/p>\n<p>All players had to be weighed before and after both breakfast and matches to monitor how much fluid they were losing, as the temperature hit 35 degrees Celsius. If anyone didn\u2019t want to do it, that was respected \u2014 but it was never an issue, says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere\u2019s no shame in weighing 80 or 85 kilos \u2014 it almost turned into a competition over who could eat the most at the breakfast buffet,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>Kinza Olsen Riahi adds that the men\u2019s coach dropped by during the final days and pointed out that the weighing could be problematic and borderline <em>body shaming<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat\u2019s a total misunderstanding. It\u2019s incredibly important for us to track. If I\u2019ve lost more than a kilo after a match, I seriously need to go hydrate so I don\u2019t lose performance before the next game,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>The pressure to perform is only going to increase in the near future. Turkey snatched the gold right in front of Denmark at this year\u2019s European Championship, so when the Danish national women\u2019s team gets their chance for revenge in the Championship division, they are motivated:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe don’t want to get relegated,\u00ab says Malou Kr\u00f8ll Sebens, and adds:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt will be Turkey that goes down \u2014 when we beat them.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 1 September 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events at the University of Copenhagen and top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":3792,"name":"Student life","slug":"student-life","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3792,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":160,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":674,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/baerendebillede-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180666"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180807,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180666\/revisions\/180807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}