When Argentina donned the “celeste y blanco” - light blue and white – shirts for the first time at the Olympic Games, Elke Karsten was only 21 and was only making her first steps in competitive handball.

Karsten scored only five goals in three matches at Rio 2016, when Argentina lost all five matches in the competition, but something looked right about the Argentinian left back. Her handball IQ intrigued and her shooting technique impressed, especially as she never played outside her home team of AACF Quilmes.

“The experience at the Olympic Games was very good, I will never forget it and I took advantage of it every step of the way. I was honoured to be part of the team at only 21 years old and I learnt a lot at that competition,” says Karsten for ihf.info.

In fact, Karsten has been pinpointed as the next best thing in Argentina since her early years in handball. At 18, she was already making her debut in the senior team, being selected for the IHF Women’s World Championship in Serbia.

Now, at 25, and with stints in Spain and Hungary under her belt, Karsten has scored 235 goals in 88 games, trailing only right back Luciana Mendoza and fellow left back Manuela Pizzo in the top goal scorers in the Argentinian team. Mendoza and Pizzo have both played more than 140 games for Argentina.

Born and raised in Argentina, Karsten’s family has German and Swiss ancestry, with her name paying tribute to the former German actress Elke Sommers. But there is no acting for Karsten, as she has one goal: to be the best handball player she could be.

It took grit and a great deal of resolution for Karsten to leave her country and go to Spain at only 21 years old, where she signed for Malaga. A stint at BM Bera Bera was followed by two years at Hungarian side DVSC-Schaeffler, where she would play against one of the best players in the world, both in the domestic league and in the Women’s EHF Cup.

“We have a lot of players who are currently at European clubs. This experience gives you a bit more, helps you develop, so it is very good for our side to have Argentinian players in Europe. This does not mean that the other players are bad, the level is very high,” added Karsten.

But the 25-year old really erupted on the big stage in December 2019, at the 24th IHF Women’s World Championship in Japan. Argentina finished 16th, their best-ever result in the competition and it was their attack which dazzled opponents.

Karsten was a big part of that, finishing 11th in the top goal scorer standings, with 46 goals, three less than the 2018 IHF Female World Player of the Year, Romanian star Cristina Neagu. In fact, 26% of Argentina’s goals at Japan 2019 were scored by Karsten, with the left back adding 12 assists to her tally.

“We have improved on a year-by-year basis, but there is a lot of room to get better and better,” said Karsten.

The first step could be made at the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020, where Argentina play in Tournament 1 with Sweden and Spain. To proceed to the Olympic Games for the second time in a row, at least one win is needed, yet Argentina have never won against European opposition in their history.

“We play against two very good European teams, we know how hard it is, but we are up for the challenge. Everybody thinks that we will be the team that we lose two matches, but we can be good.” 

“It has been a challenging year, we did not meet much, we were not together for an awful lot of time, but with a good defence from the start, we can get into our rhythm and play good handball,” says Karsten.

It is a challenge for the Argentinian left back, but first in a series of many in 2021. From the summer, Karsten will leave DVSC and become the first Argentinian player to have ever played in Norway.

The cultural challenges will be great, but Karsten looks up to the challenge at Molde, the team currently placed sixth in the Norwegian league.

“The choice was personal, I needed a new challenge, I needed to improve as a player and it looked to be the right step to make. I want to play more and I think it will be a good experience for me and for my career,” concluded the 25-year-old left back.

She will be welcomed with open arms by Tor Odvar Moen, a former coach at Norwegian powerhouse Larvik HK and at the Women’s EHF Cup winner, Siofok KC, in Hungary.

It was in Hungary where Moen witnessed how good can Karsten can really be and her performance at Japan 2019 only cemented his assessment.

“This is a back player with tremendous value in attack and with well-developed shooting technique,” said Moen, according to Norwegian outlet ToppHandball.no.

Karsten is upbeat and will try to do her best both in the Norwegian league and for the Argentinian national team. 

“Many Argentinian players are now playing in Europe, especially in Spain. If I recommend them to come in Europe? It is a personal choice. But the decision can help them develop. I expect more players to come and play in Europe,” concluded the Argentinian left back.