Guri Schanke recalls 2007 injury as her worst summer

Guri Schanke has recalled the summer of 2007, when she tore her hamstring during a charity race and had to be carried away. She spoke to Dagbladet for its Sommerpraten column.

The 64-year-old actor, singer and podcaster is spending this summer in Spain with friends, continuing a holiday tradition she has followed for about 20 years. She has also holidayed with her extended family in Italy, visited her cabin in Bamble and picked wild raspberries.

“Shorts and a vest top. That is what I live in during the summer,” Schanke said when asked what she had worn most this season.

She said she treats herself to restaurant meals twice a day during a week in Spain and is taking the entire summer off this year.

“It is lovely not to have anything hanging over you during the holiday that you have to do,” she said. Schanke added that she usually relaxes by meditating in bed, as she is not otherwise very good at unwinding.

Her best summer memory is from the time her family got a cabin in Kragerø. They planted flowers, restored old furniture and created a place that gave their children childhood memories. She also remembers the value of warm woollen socks in the evening.

Her worst summer came in 2007, when she injured her hamstring in a charity race at Bislett Games supporting the Council for Mental Health. The injury occurred four weeks before rehearsals were due to begin for “Showgirls”.

Schanke had high expectations of herself after finishing second in “Skal vi danse” and winning the Norwegian Eurovision selection with a salsa song. Instead, she spent the holiday undergoing rehabilitation and physiotherapy, while fearing that she would not be able to complete “Showgirls”.

“I managed to complete it, but I was not exactly a solo dancer,” she said.

Schanke added that older workers at Bislett made a cheeky remark that it was the shortest 60-metre race they had ever seen there. She fell after 10 metres and was carried out.

She is now preparing to return to work, including an appearance in the second season of “Basic Bitch Bærum”, lectures, a singing project and a Christmas concert at Stange Church.