European championships Coming up
The European Championship has kicked off in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sunniva and her team has been training hard and putting in the work for the challenge ahead. The level at this Championship will be extremely high, with 3 of the current top 5 boxers in the world rankings at 75 kg being European, including Sunniva at number 5.
The rivalry
Sunniva’s biggest rival is the Irish Olympian Aoife O’rourke, who beat Sunniva in the previous World Championship, and went on to take the gold medal. They also met back in 2023, where Sunniva also lost a close fight. But as always, our team comes well prepared, having adjusted and learned from past mistakes and shortcomings.
There is also a strong opponent in Turkey’s Büsra Işildar, who took the silver medal at the 2025 World Championship. Sunniva and Büsra has never met, and have yet to even touch gloves in sparring, so that encounter could be a thrilling watch.
This Championship is not only a competition for the title as European Champion, but also for the 800 ranking points that comes with taking 1st place. These rankings points will be extremely valuable when entering the upcoming qualifying events for the 2028 Olympics. The more points you have, the better a placing in the draw, and the “easier” way to a ticket you’ll have. It will determine who you meet in your initial fights, and ensure that the best ranked boxers don’t compete with each other until the medals. This puts that extra pressure in the Championship and will ensure that all boxers show up at their best.
The Team
Norway will be sending three athletes to the Europeans: Sunniva Hofstad, Sofia Stigen Sørensen (80kg), and Omar Shiha (90+kg). This is what we believe to be a strong team. Sofia had previous medals form youth European and World Championships. Omar qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and has had great success against high level boxers. They have all travelled together before and it is guaranteed to be a high spirit, as they are all known to show big smiles and great support at tournaments.
Omar and Sunniva
The first ones to qualify for the Olympics in boxing from Norway in 28 years.
Besties and training partners
Sunniva and Sofia has been traveling together since they were young, and have developed a close friendship along with a world-class partnership in training. Sofia was also in Paris for the Games as Sunnivas sparring partner.
