Scott Touzinsky, who was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team that took the gold medal in indoor men’s volleyball in Beijing, has retired. He’s 34-years old, and will finish his career as a member of the Polish team Jastrzebski.
In an interview with Polish outlet sportowefakty.wp.pl, Touzinsky said that a recent injury forced a ‘radical decision.’
“The last few weeks have been very hard for me, starting with the match in Olsztyn, where I could not play through the Christmas break, and I was fighting for a return to the court until today,” Touzinsky said.
“An injury prevented me from continuing to play this season and prompted me to make a radical decision about the end of my career. I decided to finally hang up my boots. I am 34-years old, but as an athlete I feel much older, my body is dead. For the fourth time, I’ve had the same knee injury. The last time it happened was four years ago, when I played in Berlin.
Touzinsky also said that this will give him the opportunity to settle down and focus on his family, including his 6-year old son, instead of constantly moving around the world.
He will fly to the United States this week and will undergo surgery (probably in February he says), followed by 4-6 weeks of rehab after which he can walk without pain. He’ll then hope to return to Poland to support his team from the sideline in the Polish league playoffs.
Touzinsky’s first major knee injury came in 2004, 13 years ago, when he tore his ACL. He returned 6 months later to play with a professional team in Belgium, and has since gone on to play in Greece, Spain, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, China, and now Poland.
Touzinsky joined the U.S. Senior National Team in 2007, and played with them through the Beijing Olympics. Besides his Olympic gold medal, he was also with the team for their 2008 FIVB World League title, their 2008 NORCECA Olympic Qualifying tournament title, and their 2007 NORCECA Continental Championship.
At the 2008 Olympics, Touzinsky played in 4 of the Americans’ 5 pool play games. While he didn’t play in either the semi-finals or the finals, he did get some time at the service line in the Americans’ quarterfinals win against Serbia.
He played his collegiate volleyball at Long Beach State and as a senior was named an AVCA First Team All-American, and as the school’s all-time ace leader. He also became the 3rd player in men’s NCAA Division I-II history to score 40 or more kills in a rally-scoring match.
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