Beach volleyball player Markéta Nausch Sluková will miss next season, but did not rule out a return before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
She would like to see the end of her successful career, which was coronavirus deprived of her at the Tokyo Olympics. They will not start with the Barbora Hermannová at the Czech Championships, which will take place from Friday to Sunday in Prague. Nausch Sluková is still not in optimal shape and this time Hermann will not be looking for a replacement partner after completing the last three tournaments with three different players, including the European Championships.
Thirty-three-year-old Nausch Sluková wants to start a family with her husband and coach Simon. “But even if there was no time for family, I know that after this Olympics I would take a year to spend my personal life and rest. The team was set up like this, that there will be a season after Tokyo that will be for each of us another, “she said at today’s press conference.
It may not be the definitive end of a successful career. “It annoys me that I couldn’t end it as I would have liked. It’s all the more tempting to come back and play at the highest level. The time to Paris is much shorter, the year is a long time. I don’t want to push myself, but it attracts me more than ever, because I’m crooked that I couldn’t end it the way I wanted to, “said the volleyball player, who didn’t get on the courts at all due to the covidem-19 infection in Tokyo.
It may not be the very end of this season for her and Hermann, as they are aiming for a wild card for the October final tournament of the World Circuit in Sardinia. “We didn’t get there this time, but we applied for a wild card. It will be decided in the coming days,” Hermann said.
At least for next year, he has to find a new partner. At the European Championships she went to the round of 16 with Maria Sára Štochlová, in Prague she played with Daniela Resová and in Brno with Michaela Břínková. “There are a few of those possibilities. There are clever girls here who have potential for the world. It has been narrowed down to two or three variants. I’m not quite determined yet. I haven’t communicated with anyone in full detail,” she said.
Although their joint work has not yet completely closed, Hermannová and Nausch Sluková summarized their journey, which began in the summer of 2015 with Sluková’s close-knit separation with then-teammate Kristýna Kolocová, with whom they were fifth at the 2012 London Olympics. “We don’t have a better beach volleyball player than Markéta. I’m very grateful that I was able to play next to her. It’s a huge, but huge experience for me, not only sports, but also human,” said the moved Hermann.
Nausch Sluková was grateful for a respirator that partially hid her emotions. “For me at the moment, the chapter is closing, which was very demanding, but I must say that it was also beautiful. I had my role when I was more experienced and the leader of the team. Bara took on her role from the beginning, when we were “I would like to thank not only her, but everyone who has been on that journey for the past six years,” she said with tears.
Coach Nausch had prepared statistics for a successful pair consisting of two originally blockers. He recalled two medals at the European Championships, a number of precious metals from World Circuit tournaments and Sluková’s fighting spirit, which the 2019 World Championships and other tournaments key to the Olympic qualification took place shortly after a broken toe. “From the point of view of medals, only the Germans Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst were more successful in Europe,” said the Austrian coach.
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