Beach volleyball Olympic champion Kira Walkenhorst received a wild card for the European Championships as part of the multi-sport event "European Championships" in Munich (11th to 21st August).
This was announced by the German Volleyball Association (DVV).
Walkenhorst will compete with the previous indoor top player Louisa Lippmann, who is continuing her career in the sand.
"I'm happy to be able to play at the European Championships in my own country and to actively support Louisa Lippmann with her first steps in the sand.
A home European Championship is always something very special," said Walkenhorst (31), who won Olympic gold in Rio in 2016 with Laura Ludwig.
A year later the duo became world champions.
Due to physical problems, Walkenhorst announced her retirement in 2019, but then made a comeback in 2020.
Louise Lippmann is “extremely excited to be able to play with Kira in such a big tournament.
I'm sure I'll be able to benefit enormously from her experience, but I also have respect for being on the field with an Olympic champion.” The 27-year-old has been training in Hamburg for a few weeks and is considered a new hope in the beach area.
In total, the DVV is represented at the European Championships with five women and four men teams.
The women's seed list is led by Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann.
The Hamburg team won bronze at the World Championships in Rome on Sunday after Joana Heidrich and her partner Anouk Vergé-Dépré retired due to injury.
Despite the bitter end of the World Cup, the Swiss are number two at the European Championship.
Joana Heidrich has been released from the hospital after her shoulder injury.
As her association Swiss Volley announced, her right shoulder was put back in the clinic.
She is now to be further examined and treated in her home country.
Other German participants at the European Championships in Munich are Karla Borger/Julia Sude, who came third at the European Championships in 2021, the German champions Chantal Laboureur/Sarah Schulz (Stuttgart) and Sandra Ittlinger/Isabel Schneider (St. Pauli).
Hamburg's Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler are sixth in the men's rankings.
Also there are Robin Sowa/Lukas Pfretzschner, Paul Henning/Sven Winter and Simon Pfretzschner/Philipp Huster, who also train in Hamburg.