Kira Walkenhorst | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | German | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | 18 November 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Essen, Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Kira Katharina Walkenhorst (born 18 November 1990) is a German retired beach volleyball player who played as a blocker. [1] She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball player [2] and a younger sister Pia Walkenhorst who also plays beach volleyball.
Walkenhorst won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro [3] together and at the 2017 World Championships with her teammate Laura Ludwig. [4] She also won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2014 European Beach Volleyball Championships and gold medals at the 2015 and 2016 Beach ECH alongside her teammate Laura Ludwig. [5]
She retired from competition at the start of 2019 due to persistent injuries. [6]
In 2020, Walkenhorst made her comeback on the national tour and participated in the German championships.
Kira Walkenhorst participated in the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio together with her teammate Laura Ludwig. They won the gold medal in the final match against the Brazilian duo Ágatha Bednarczuk and Bárbara Seixas in straight sets of 21–18, 21-14 following their victory against the Brazilian duo Larissa França and Talita Antunes in the semi-finals. [7]
Walkenhorst competed in the World Tour Finals in Toronto. With teammate Laura they finished 3rd (Last) in Pool-B with 2 losses In the quarter-final match against Ross and Walsh they won in 3 sets of (21-18, 19–21, 15–11), advancing to the semi-final against Larissa and Talita of Brazil. [8]
Winning against Brazil in straight sets of (21-19, 21–19) [9] the pair advance to the gold medal match. Another GOLD medal for the Olympic winners in straight sets of (21-18, 21–16) [10] against the Swiss pair of Zumkehr and Heidrich
Walkenhorst opened the 2017 season at Fort Lauderdale Major with temporary partner Julia Großner while her regular partner Laura Ludwig recovered from a shoulder injury. [11] They won two out of their three pool play matches to make it through to the Final 24. Here they lost 0:2 to Meppelink / Van Gestel (NED) so finished the tournament in 17th position. [12] At the world championships in Vienna, Ludwig / Walkenhorst won the gold medal after beating Lauren Fendrick and April Ross in the final. [13]
In late 2016, Walkenhorst came out as a lesbian. [14] In October 2017, she married her longtime girlfriend and trainer Maria Kleefisch. [15] One year later, her wife Maria gave birth to triplets. [16]
Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.
Talita Antunes da Rocha is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was FIVB rookie of the year in 2005, and World Tour Winner twice, in 2013 and 2015.
Larissa França Maestrini is a Brazilian beach volleyball player. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with Juliana Felisberta and the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour with Talita Antunes.
Laura Ludwig-Bowes is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She added another medal, Gold, at the 2016 World Tour Finals in Toronto. In 2017, she and Walkenhorst won the World Championship in Vienna.
Jonas Reckermann is a German retired beach volleyball player. Together with his most recent partner Julius Brink, he won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which, along with Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst are the most successful Olympic appearances of a German beach volleyball team. They were the first European duo to win the Olympic gold medal – male or female competition. In addition to that they also were the first European team ever to win a world championship title and are currently ranked 22nd on the FIVB World Tour.
Beach volleyball was introduced at the Summer Olympic Games in the 1992 Games as a demonstration event, and has been an official Olympic sport since 1996.
April Elizabeth Ross is a former American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh Jennings, and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with Alix Klineman. Ross and Kessy were also the 2009 Beach Volleyball World Champions.
Nadine Zumkehr is a Swiss beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she played with Simone Kuhn. The pair participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics tournament and were eliminated in the round of 16 by the American pair of Jennifer Kessy and April Ross who went on to win silver.
Karla Borger is a German beach volleyball player. She won a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships alongside her teammate Britta Büthe. In 2014 they won the German Championship. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she competed in women's beach volleyball with teammate Britta Büthe. They were defeated by the Brazilian team of Larissa França and Talita Antunes in the round of 16. After Büthe quit professional beach volleyball in 2016, Borger teamed up with Margareta Kozuch until 2018. When Kozuch decided to play with Laura Ludwig, she formed a new team with Julia Sude and won the German Championship in 2019. The team qualified for participation in the Beach volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Bárbara Seixas de Freitas is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. In 2012, she was named FIVB top Rookie of the year. Seixas is a three-time youth World Champion and has reached the podium in several FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournaments. She won a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships alongside her teammate Liliane Maestrini, and per 13 August 2013 they rank third among the women's money leaders with $108,875.
Ágatha Bednarczuk Rippel, frequently referred to as just Ágatha, is a Brazilian international beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships, as well as a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, alongside her teammate Bárbara Seixas.
The following were the events of Volleyball for the year 2015 throughout the world.
Sarah Lindsey Pavan is a Canadian former beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. With Melissa Humana-Paredes, she won the women's gold medal at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships.
The following were the events of Volleyball for the year 2016 throughout the world.
Heather Bansley is a Canadian beach volleyball player, playing as a left-side defender. She has been named FIVB Best Defensive Player of the World Tour in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Joana Mäder is a Swiss beach volleyball player. She competed with Nadine Zumkehr in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Anouk Vergé-Dépré is a Swiss beach volleyball player. Representing her country with teammate Joana Heidrich, she won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the gold medal at the 2020 European Beach Volleyball Championships. With former teammate Isabelle Forrer, she won third place at the 2016 FIVB World Tour Finals and competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Isabelle Forrer is a Swiss beach volleyball player. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics with doubles partner Anouk Vergé-Dépré. Forrer and Vergé-Dépré were eliminated in the round of 16 by German pair Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. Forrer and Vergé-Dépré finished 9th. The pair competed at the 2016 World Tour Finals in Toronto and won the bronze medal. They won the bronze medal match against Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes of Brazil in straight sets.
Julia Großner is a professional beach volleyball player.
Nina Brunner is a Swiss professional beach volleyball player who plays as a right side defender with her partner Tanja Hüberli. She is a two-time European Champion, winning the title in 2021 and 2023, the silver medallist at the 2018 and 2022 European Championships, and the bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics. With her former partner Nicole Eiholzer, she won the gold medal at the first ever European Games in 2015. Alongside Hüberli, Betschart has won combined total of 3 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze medals on FIVB World Tour and its successor Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Betschart / Hüberli team represented Switzerland at the 2020 Summer Olympics where they finished in ninth place and played a pivotal role at their country's triumph in the women's event of the inaugural CEV Beach Volleyball Nations Cup in 2022. They achieved a career-high World ranking of No. 2 in November 2021.