The German end of year awards has taken place, with familiar faces winning the countries Best Team award – beach stars Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. This was the 71st year that the award has been handed out to German athletes and is voted on by more than 3,000 German sports journalist.
The duo won the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and followed up their performance with a successful 2017 season, winning the 2017 FIVB World Tour and along with the 2017 Beach World Championships. This was a great accomplishment as Ludwig began the year with shoulder surgery that kept her out of the beginning competitions of the season, including the opening five-start event in Fort Lauderdale.
This past season also saw Ludwig named as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 FIVB Beach World Tour for the second time in a row.
This coming year will see Ludwig sit out once again, but for the entire season as she announced on Facebook that she is pregnant. Ludwig is due in June 2018, which puts her out of the entire 2018 season. Walkenhorst is also sitting out for a portion of the 2018 season, as she recently had a minor hip surgery following the 2017 season.
Despite not playing with each other this season, the duo still plans to stay together through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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