Lausanne, Switzerland, December 14, 2016 – Rio 2016 Olympic champion Laura Ludwig is likely to miss the start of the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour following surgery on her left shoulder.
The German who won gold with Kira Walkenhorst on Copacabana Beach is extremely doubtful to make the World Tour's start that takes place at Fort Lauderdale, USA from February 7-12.
No date has been set for the 30-year-old’s return, but in a post on her and Walkenhorst’s Facebook page, Ludwig said that the surgery went successfully and that the pair remain on course for their main target in 2017, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships which take place in Vienna from July 28-August 6.
Ludwig and Walkenhorst will go into the World Championships among the favourites having become the first European women’s team to win an Olympic medal of any colour at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.