Beach volleyballer Laura Ludwig was announced as one of Germany’s flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The defending Olympic champion from Rio 2016 was selected as the result of a vote conducted among fellow German Olympians and sports fans, announced just a day before the big opening event. At the ceremony, the 35-year-old player will lead her nation’s athletes alongside diver Patrick Hausding.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Beach Volleyball
Reigning champ Ludwig elated about carrying German flag in Tokyo
Laura selected as flag bearer by fellow Olympians and fans
Published 09:05, 23 Jul 2021
“I am definitely pretty overwhelmed and excited. It’s very cool to lead the big German group into the stadium,” Ludwig told Volleyball World after Friday’s last training session at the Olympic venue in Tokyo. “It is also very cool that we can team up with my partner Patrick Hausding and I don’t have to do it alone. I would be very nervous about it if I had to do it alone and hold the flag by myself. But it’s also really cool to be able to represent beach volleyball at the ceremony that way.”
Ludwig took part in the beach volleyball tournaments at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and then, at Rio 2016, she and Kira Walkenhorst topped the podium and became the first and only European women’s pair ever to win an Olympic medal in beach volleyball.
Tokyo 2020 will be the fourth Olympic Games for Ludwig and she will try to defend her title with a new partner, 34-year-old indoor-to-beach convert and first-time Olympian Margareta Kozuch.
“It’s a big day today, especially for Laura! I’m proud to be her partner,” Kozuch said. “I will also be with her at the ceremony tonight. And we’re so excited to start tomorrow. It was a long journey and we are very happy about it.”
“It’s crazy that it’s already starting tomorrow! Yesterday it felt like it was still a year ahead because of the postponement, and now it’s already tomorrow and it’s just crazy!” Ludwig added. “It’s so exciting that it’s finally starting!”
Ludwig and Kozuch will start their Olympic campaign on the tournament’s first competition day on Saturday, just a day after Friday’s Opening Ceremony. At 15:00 local time, they take on Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Betschart in their first Pool F game. The teams have already tested the sand at the Olympic centre court and Ludwig is quite happy about it.
“The venue is great! The sand is very nice and not difficult to play on,” she said. “In general, I am feeling way better here in Tokyo than I thought. Actually I didn’t think so much about it as I tried not to have too many expectations. But everything is so cool! The Japanese are really, really nice. They try to do their best and actually they do their best. They are very helpful, very nice... Everything is really cool and we are so happy to be here.”
Laura Ludwig is the second beach volleyball athlete to be named a flag bearer in Tokyo after Chile's Marco Grimalt. Seven volleyball players have been named flag bearers, including China's Zhu Ting, Kenya's Mercy Moim, South Korea's Kim Yeon Koung, Tunisia's Mehdi Ben Cheikh, the Dominican Republic's Prisilla Rivera, Brazil's Bruno Rezende and Maxim Mikhaylov, competing under the ROC flag. Italy's Paola Egonu will be an Olympic flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 23.
