Beach volleyball, Julius Thole: Retired when he was only 24

“The decision was not an easy one for me,” said Julius Thole from Hamburg in a press conference on Monday. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time in the last few weeks.” In the end, the 24-year-old world-class beach volleyball player came to a decision that was surprising even for those around him: he stopped. At the end of the year Thole ended his career as a high-performance athlete. As second in the World Cup and fifth in the Olympics with Clemens Wickler, as a bearer of hope for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“It is probably the biggest decision so far in my life,” says Thole. “Beach volleyball was my life for a long time. I am very grateful for the experiences and the many great encounters. I could never have dreamed of the sporting successes of Clemens and myself. ”Wickler will now form a duo with Nils Ehlers. His beach partner Lars Flüggen recently ended his career.

“I’m fine,” Thole pushes immediately afterwards. It is not health reasons that prompted him to make this decision, or perhaps even forced him to do so. Retired at the age of 24 – plus as a top player. It cannot be a lack of athletic perspective that drives him. After all, he and Wickler are among the best in the world, their silver at the 2019 home World Cup was by no means a stroke of luck, as they have proven often enough.

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At the Olympic Games this summer, more than fifth would have been possible. In view of their miserable preparation, however, it was astonishing and impressive how strong they played in Japan: First Wickler had to undergo an appendix operation, then Thole tore a ligament in his foot. Paris 2024? They would be young enough for that, it could have been their games.

So what is the reason? The short form is: “I want to set a new focus in my life”, summarizes Thole. So far he has brought top sport and his law studies under one roof – with the priority on sporting goals.

100 percent – no less

The decision to end his career only matured in the past few weeks. Until Tokyo, according to Thole, he hadn’t bothered with such thoughts at all. “Olympia was our big dream. Even after that, I didn’t really bother with it, ”he says. The season went on. And the Olympic premiere had to be processed first.

With the approaching end of the season, however, the brooding came. “I then started studying and building up the structure and realized that it could now be difficult to combine the two,” he says. After the season the brooding went on, the weighing up. Then the decision matured.

“I really want to intensify my law studies,” he says. He doesn’t want to study half-heartedly. And studying demands a lot, always more. Conversely, concentrating solely on sport is not his thing, and he did not want to do that in the past few years either. His studies, it was important to him, also as a balance. “I have now noticed that I have the depth that the law degree deserves for me and that has now become necessary because I have reached the hot phase, that I cannot afford this depth because of the high time required for the sport . “Both 100 percent are not possible. Thole had to choose.

“I didn’t want to stop Clemens”

But there is something else. “I am also looking forward to a life that can be shaped a little more freely. For me, studying is more than just studying and attending lectures. You have a lot of options, ”he says. Maybe he’s learning a new language, maybe he’s doing a semester abroad, he doesn’t know yet. “It’s diverse and I want to smell into it.”

There is no longer any room for top-class sport like the one he would like to practice. “I don’t think I will be able to do high-performance sport 100 percent and with full dedication in the next three years. I believe that I can no longer give this, “he says – and adds something important,” and I don’t want to give anymore. But that was exactly what I always wanted and also the most important requirement for Clemens and me and our entire team – and certainly also the reason for our success. ”100 percent, nothing less.

The option to play the EM next year in Munich, Wickler’s hometown, was only a theoretical one. “I would have loved to play with Clemens in his hometown,” says Thole. “I think it will be a great event.” However, the current Olympic cycle is only three years long, and Wickler needs time to get to grips with his new partner perfectly. “I didn’t want to stop Clemens. Now is the most consistent decision, ”explains the 24-year-old.

Wickler and Thole – that was more than a sporting community of convenience, the two are friends. “And we will stay that way,” they say. “Not only our successes, but above all our friendship made the time a special one,” says Thole. It was all the more difficult for him to tell his beach partner about his decision.

“But Clemens reacted extremely well. And he understood, ”he says. Wickler himself says: “Of course I was very surprised at the beginning. That hit me unexpectedly. But Julius explained that to me very clearly. If he notices that his focus is shifting and he can no longer give 100 percent to competitive sport, it is the right decision for him. And also fair to me. “

Don’t be afraid of what’s coming

For Thole, after years of top-class sport, a new phase of life has started. He’s not afraid of regretting the decision. Even if he says: “I will definitely be missing large parts in sport. Especially this competition – I loved that. ”

And: he’s still young. “If in six months I think I’ve made the mistake of my life, I’ll think about it again. But I do not believe that.”

It is quite possible that we will see him again at some point in beach volleyball. “Probably not directly, but I will stay connected to beach volleyball,” says Julius Thole. “Sport has given me so much that I want to give something back.”