Talent runs in the family. Passion runs in the family. The thirst for performance runs in the family. Even playing in the same position runs in the family.

At the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Alexander Løke Gautestad was one of the top line players in the competition, and the fifth top scoring one, with 33 goals in eight matches, including 10 goals in the Placement Match 7/8 against Hungary.

And if the name sounds familiar, it is because Alexander’s mother, Heidi, was one of the top line players in handball’s history. A two-time world champion with Norway at Brazil 2011 and Denmark 2015, as well as Olympic champion at London 2012 and a four-time EHF EURO winner, Heidi Løke redefined the position in women’s handball.

“Of course I looked up to her all my life. I lived in Hungary my whole life almost, as she played for Győr. I watched them play when I was growing up and I grew up watching handball basically, therefore being a handball player was a normal development,” said Løke.

At 1,95m tall, Løke Gautestad turned 18 during the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with the occasion celebrated by his mother through an Instagram post, with the former line player noting that her son is “doing what he loves most, playing handball.” She added: “You're so kind, thoughtful, funny, an amazing son and you are the best big brother in the world to Oscar and Casper”.

Indeed, Løke was touched, but also laser focused on the task at hand, namely at his development and trying to become a better player.

“We were in the hall every day when I was little and threw the ball. I loved it every single day. And I became a line player because everybody in my family is a line player,” says Norway’s future star.

Alexander’s uncle, Frank, as well as his aunt, Lise, Heidi’s brothers, played handball and were line players, with Frank representing Norway in 167 international matches, while Lise also made her debut in the Norway women’s senior team in 2013.

“I think it's in my genes,” laughs Alexander, who will be mentored in the future by another former fantastic line player for the Norway men’s national team.

This summer, Løke moved to Runar Sandefjord, a team which has been led by Bjarte Myrhol since 2024. Myrhol, who played for Rhein-Neckar Löwen, HSG Nordhorn, Veszprem HC and THW Kiel in his career, is the most capped Norwegian player in history, with 263 matches in the national team shirt and the fourth best scorer, with 803 goals.

And Myrhol was a line player all his life, just like Løke, with the 18-year-old now getting unparalleled access to one of the best, if not the best Norwegian line player of all time, an integrant part of the Norway senior national team which secured the silver medal at the 2015 and 2017 editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship.

“I have to just stay focused and work hard in the future. But now I have Bjarte Myrhol in Runar and it's a fantastic chance for me to develop and to get even better. He's an amazing coach, he was a fantastic player and it's going to be a very good season for me and for the team,” says Løke.

But so far, things are looking on the up for Løke, who has been a crucial member of Norway, which finished eighth, but with a depleted squad, which saw the last three matches played with 13, 13 and 12 players respectively on the scoresheet, due to several injuries.

Nevertheless, the 18-year-old line player scored six goals in the win against France, 42:34, six goals in the draw against Slovenia, 37:37, and seven goals in the quarter-finals loss against Sweden, 34:35, when Norway really did everything they could to secure a place in the top-4, despite their absences.

“We didn't expect this when we got here, in Egypt, to have a chance to play for a podium finish or to finish in the first five teams, but when we had the chance to get a top-5 finish, we thought we should go for it, until the end. I think we threw it a little bit away with the last matches, but in the end, it is a good result,” said the line player.

But at only 18 years old and with a generational change in the senior team, Løke should have some chances in the future, naming a debut in the Norway senior team as a dream.

And with such models in his family, the motivation is high. Especially as everything handball still going through his mother’s filter.

“I still get some advice from her and it is amazing to have it,” concludes Løke.