Beach Volleyball World Cup
Ludwig/Lippmann: Mexican dreams of the Eiffel Tower
Have high goals: Louisa Lippmann (l) and Laura Ludwig. photo
© Essene Hernandez/eyepix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The beach volleyball players Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann want to take the next steps towards the Olympics at the World Cup in Mexico. The path was not always easy for the two Hamburg women.
The beach volleyball players Laura Ludwig and are dreaming in the Mexican highlands Louisa Lippmann from the Eiffel Tower.
At the World Championships, which are currently being held at an altitude of around 2,400 meters in the city of Tlaxcala with a population of 15,000, the Hamburg duo want to take the next steps on the way to the Olympic Games in Paris next year. By reaching the round of the 32 best teams, the 37-year-old Ludwig and the 29-year-old Lippmann are on the right track.
Exciting project “LLLL”
The LLLL project, named after the first letters of the two first and last names, is one of the most exciting in German sport. After the 2016 Olympic victory in Rio de Janeiro alongside Kira Walkenhorst and the interlude with Margareta Kozuch as her partner, Ludwig took a break due to pregnancy. On May 16, 2022, the Berlin native, who is considered one of the world’s best defensive players on the sand, gave birth to her second son Lenny. But the comeback plans were already developing beforehand.
Since then, Louisa Lippmann, five-time German volleyball player of the year and 162-time national player, has been at Ludwig’s side in the hall. The team is “an indoor player who has no points and a mom with two children with few points,” said Ludwig in a ZDF documentary in October 2022, looking at the international rankings and adding: “Let’s see where we are stand for two years.”
The Hamburg team is currently in the round of the best 32 teams after two wins and one defeat in the World Cup group phase. On Wednesday (9 p.m.) they will face Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Silva from Brazil. “They have good weapons to compete against the top teams,” Julius Brink told the German Press Agency on Tuesday. The 41-year-old, who has been Vice President of the German Volleyball Association (DVV) since the end of August, speaks from a professional perspective. Finally, in 2012, he won Olympic gold on the sands of London.
“We had incredibly difficult conditions as a team”
Brink observed the Ludwig/Lippmann team very closely from the start: “As a team, they had incredibly difficult conditions. Laura came out of pregnancy, Louisa was in the transformation phase from the hall to the sand. They had a hard time getting into the top tournaments because they didn’t have enough points.” But the interaction worked better and better. The first common highlights were third place at the European Championships in August this year in Vienna and then fifth place at the Elite16 tournament at Rothenbaum in Hamburg. For Lippmann, European Championship bronze was a “milestone”.
A coaching decision was also crucial to the upswing. After separating from the Norwegian Martin Engvik, Ludwig’s husband Imorfene Bowes, who has been the national coach again since August, took over in January this year. Louisa Lippmann in particular benefits from working with the Scot. At the World Championships, the 29-year-old impressed with powerful serves and dominant block work. Skills that also impress Julius Brink: “Louisa gets better with every touch of the ball,” says the DVV vice-president, who will be heading to Mexico on Wednesday.
The most direct route to Paris for Team LLLL would be to win the gold medal in Tlaxcala. Other options include the Olympic rankings or a victory in the continental qualification. “I believe that they will make it through the Olympic rankings,” says Brink, who firmly believes that Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann will be one of two German women’s teams to pitch under the Eiffel Tower next year.