Laura Ludwig did not take her son to Tokyo, although the three-year-old would have liked to be there. In any case, the last pictures before departure showed a curly-headed young man in the living room at home, peeking out of mom’s gym bag, which she is packing for the Olympic Games. Teo will definitely be allowed to watch television at 1 p.m. at Grandma and Grandpa in Berlin this Friday, and for an important reason: Beach volleyball player Laura Ludwig will then carry the German flag into the stadium with diver Patrick Hausding at the opening ceremony in Tokyo.
It’s not just a premiere for Ludwig. For the first time ever, a duo presented the banner at the entry of the German Olympians, for reasons of equality. And even if Ludwig expressed the hope in an initial reaction that Hausding would take over the work (“You have to carry the flag, you have the bigger biceps”), this moment should be another bright milestone in her professional career.
Ludwig is actually interested in equality on a completely different level. The 35-year-old wants to show that mothers can bring their professional sport and family life into harmony – despite many trips around the world. Her mission is to land on the podium again in Tokyo after her Olympic victory in 2016 with Kira Walkenhorst, as she repeatedly cites the US beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh as a great role model. In 2004, 2008 and 2012 she won gold, in 2016 in Rio bronze. At the Games in London nine years ago, Walsh was already the mother of two young sons, and their daughter was born the following year. She only missed qualifying for Tokyo by a very thin margin – as a 42-year-old.
At the age of 18 she had a minor stroke while exercising – so she changed her diet
For Ludwig, born in Köpenick and equipped with a very quick-witted Berlin nose, it is now the fourth Olympic Games. She was ninth in Beijing, fifth in London, followed by the so convincing Olympic victory in Brazil with Walkenhorst (who is now working on her comeback as a triplet mother). Their semi-finals were watched by 8.55 million television viewers in Germany – as in 2012, the fringe sport of beach volleyball became an Olympic hit. Ludwig, the seven-time German champion, four-time European champion and world champion, who has been one of the best defensive players on the tour for many years, has played a part in this. She was inevitably passed around with Walkenhorst after Rio, won the Bambi and the usual industry elections, but also liked her cheerful, relaxed manner.
She preferred to stay out of disputes in the association as well as debates about incidence values in Tokyo or too tight bikinis in Qatar, and the fact that her partner Imornefe Bowes is also head national coach of the beach volleyball players has sparked controversy in the past. In the meantime, Ludwig has put on a thick skin in all of these debates – at least in public. Anyone who thinks of the beaches in Copacabana, Mexico, Malaysia or Sydney, where Ludwig does her work, quickly forgets how hard this life out of a suitcase can be. And it’s easy to underestimate how straightforward and determined Ludwig worked on her career. Maybe also because she grew up a little earlier than others. At the age of 18 she had a minor stroke while exercising, which is why she changed her diet, for example.
On Saturday morning, the flag bearer Ludwig has her first group game at eight o’clock German time, it is against Switzerland. She and her partner Margareta Kozuch still lack consistency, the duo rumbled through the pandemic, they are outsiders in Tokyo. But Walsh’s example shows what athletes with children can do.