Edit Szalay: “I feel honoured and excited”

Involved in the sport as a presenter and moderator for eight years now, Edit Szalay has become one of the well-known faces – and voices – of the international handball world.

The Hungarian will be involved in her fourth European Championship in November when she will be the official presenter and moderator at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022.

Before the on-court action starts in a few weeks, Szalay will host a series of shows on the EHF’s Home of Handball Twitch channel, starting today (Monday 10 October) at 17:00 CEST, with only 25 days to go until throw-off in Slovenia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.

Topics in this first Twitch show are: 25 reasons to go to the EHF EURO, with former Macedonian captain and goalkeeper and current EHF EURO ambassador Gordana Naceva explaining all the good reasons for a visit to her country; a new episode of the Handball Portraits, with Cristina Neagu this time; and things Romania at the EHF EURO with Iulia Dumanska.

The following Twitch shows with Szalay will cover all things Montenegro (17 October) and all things Slovenia (1 November).

How did you get involved in presenting and moderating big sport events?

Edit Szalay: “To be honest, it was all a coincidence. Back in 2014, one of my presenter friends, Áron Kovács, asked me to join him as the English-speaking presenter for FanTV at the first ever Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest. We have been doing it together ever since.”

Throughout your career, you have been moderating and presenting at many different sport events. What were the biggest events you worked at? Any special memories?

Edit Szalay: “I would definitely start with the EHF FINAL4, both for men and women, since I have done 13 altogether already, and practically that event put me on the map of sports. I also worked at the UEFA EURO 2020. I was the official presenter for the matches in Budapest; with around 60,000 participants I think that was the biggest event so far. I also did the official Budapest Marathon for years, World Championships in fencing, canoe, wrestling, swimming, waterpolo… and, of course, my beloved EHF EUROs. This will be my fourth!”

What do you remember from your first handball event?

Edit Szalay: “It was the Women’s EHF FINAL4 2014. I just popped into the handball world from nothing and was already presenting before the first ever EHF FINAL4 semi-final. I felt so honoured and was so excited, I cannot really describe it.”

The Women’s EHF EURO 2022 is all about playing with heart. What would playing with heart mean for you?

Edit Szalay: “It means just putting myself on the court, no overthinking, no limiting boundaries... And also, about concentrating on the things I love and letting that emotion drive me.”

What do you look forward to the most at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022?

Edit Szalay: “Meeting all those people. The players, the fans, the organisers, my ‘handball family’. I have all these amazing memories from previous EHF events and can’t wait to add more to these ones.”

It is great hearing you talk about sport… but do play any sport yourself?

Edit Szalay: “I was a regional champion in swimming – I think, this was my overall favourite, just loved spending time in the water. I also played handball, but got injured quite quickly, so that didn’t last long. I was pretty good at basketball, actually, despite being pretty small. And, still hard to believe, I did play football, as well as netball back in South Africa. Loved that, too!”