An ordinary tournament - and yet not. Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner feel better prepared than three years ago. And are looking forward to seeing lots of fans this time.
20.07.2024, 05:00
24.07.2024, 10:55
SDA
The beach volleyball players are a privileged breed of sportswomen. A job in the sand, often by the sea and in the sun. At the Olympics in particular, they were often allowed to perform in magnificent competition venues: 2004 in Faliraki Harbour, 2012 in London on the Royal Parade Grounds, 2016 on the world-famous Copacabana in Rio. This time, the beach volleyball players will serve directly in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Tanja Hüberli laughs and says: "That doesn't play such a big role for me now." Despite the beautiful working environment, it is still a job that the 1.90 m tall woman from Schwyz and her colleague Nina Brunner from Central Switzerland want to do as well as possible in Paris. The goal is clear: a medal, even if they don't want to put it so directly.
Rather no concrete goals
The season so far, with victory at the Elite16 tournament in Tepic and a 2nd place at another top category event in Espinho, justifies high ambitions. The lumbago that prevented Hüberli from training recently and forced them to miss the tournaments in Gstaad and Vienna has been overcome. "We always find it a little difficult to set ourselves goals in terms of placings," says Nina Brunner reassuringly. "We've realized in the past that that's not our thing."
As two-time European champions, two-time European Championship silver medallists and Olympic 9th in Tokyo, Hüberli/Brunner have been playing among the world elite for a long time. Nevertheless, Hüberli says: "We're a bit surprised at how well this season has gone and at what level we're playing. We're in a cool place in our development." Of course, the temporary Eiffel Tower Stadium for 12,000 spectators is one such venue. But more important than the location for the two athletes is the fact that there will be fans again.
It's cool when there's a bit of action
They were completely absent in Tokyo due to the coronavirus restrictions. Nevertheless, Hüberli and Betschart were surprised to realize how different the Olympic Games are from any other tournament. "Without spectators, you might have thought that you weren't particularly excited," recalls Tanja Hüberli. "But you still feel that this is something big." They see the fact that they already know this feeling as an advantage. The atmosphere with the fans anyway.
"We're two players who think it's cool when things get going," says Nina Brunner, her eyes shining. The 28-year-old from Zug has been married to professional ice hockey player Damien Brunner for almost three years and knows the atmosphere in a full stadium. "It pushes you, it's the same for us."
Patience required
In Paris, however, they will also need a little more patience than usual. They actually want to approach it like a normal tournament, but they are both aware that they won't succeed completely. On the one hand, there is the significantly greater public attention and, on the other, the different schedule compared to events on the World Tour.
As the tournament is only played on one court, there is a maximum of one match per day and possibly a day off in between. "The tournament lasts two weeks - usually four days," explains Hüberli. "That's unusual." Perhaps there will still be some time and leisure to marvel at the Eiffel Tower a little more intensively.
