Germany’s top volleyball player Louisa Lippmann surprisingly ended her career at the age of 27.
As the diagonal attacker announced on Instagram on Wednesday, her “journey to ups and downs is over for the time being”. Last year, the 162-time national player was only the third player to be voted volleyball player of the year for the fifth time in a row.
“The last three years at full throttle in Shanghai, Kaliningrad and Italy have been extremely demanding physically and mentally and now I will refrain from volleyball to become aware of a few things,” wrote Lippmann.
She “always gave everything and got a lot”, but “unfortunately not the great success that I always dreamed of”.
Lippmann lost her place at her Italian club Savino Del Bene Scandicci last season. “The national team and the dream of the Olympics have always been my reason for playing volleyball, my daily motivation,” she said.
9th place at the 2014 World Cup was her greatest success with the selection of the German Volleyball Association (DVV), the Olympic dream remained unfulfilled.
Lippmann left it open whether a comeback is possible indefinitely after her break. Two years ago she competed in the sand for a qualifying tournament for the German Beach Volleyball Championships.
Lippmann’s DVV teammate Denise Imoudu announced her retirement at the age of 26 on Tuesday. The player from SSC Schwerin gave personal reasons for her decision.