Georg Grozer is one of the most successful German volleyball players of all time. In 2014, he led Germany’s national team to a bronze medal finish at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, the first medal for a German team since East Germany claimed gold in 1970. However, after failing to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, a heartbroken Grozer announced his retirement.
The time away from the national team did not last for Grozer, as he was back in 2017, leading the squad to silver medal finish at the 2017 European Championship – the first German medal in the history of the continental championship. His domestic career is equally successful, having won the CEV European Champions League and the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship with Russian club team Belogorie Belgorod in 2014 and national titles in Germany, Poland, Russia and China.
Now at 33 years of age, he revealed to FIVB to have one last goal: to play at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For that, he draws inspiration from his family, which has in it very successful volleyball players, as his aunt collected 90 caps for Hungary, while his father played 96 matches for Hungary as well, before moving to Germany. Some of his brothers and sisters also play in Germany’s Bundesliga.
“I hope to be able to round off my career with this great German team at the 2020 Olympic Games. I was always proud of my father. He taught me to learn from his mistakes. It wasn’t easy to have such a successful father and I always wanted to do better than him. But I’ve managed to make a name for myself. I am really proud of my siblings. The family is the be-all and end-all for me. That goes for my parents, my siblings, my wife’s family, and also my closest friends. We have a huge family, with very close ties.”
The German national team shockingly didn’t qualify for this year’s FIVB World Championship, but is set to play at the inaugural edition of FIVB’s League of Nations, which will run from May, 25 to July, 8.
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