FORWARD: Report: Beach Volleyball Player Karla Borger – Celebrated Like a Pop Star

Celebrated like a pop star: Beach volleyball player Karla Bor-
ger at the National Games in Saarland

For Karla Borger, it was something like a homecoming. The two-time Olympic participant in
beach volleyball spent an hour playing with some athletes on Tuesday evening in her role as
ambassador for Special Olympics at the National Games at the Bostalsee beach. Exactly where,
many years ago, she had played one of her first tournaments after switching from indoor volleyball
to beach volleyball. However, for a more precise memory, Borger needed a former colleague as support: “She said it was a German Youth Championship U16/U17.”

In any case, Karla Borger found it “ultra beautiful by the lake,” even if the memory wasn’t
so clear anymore. Incidentally, the Special Olympics athletes felt the same. They celebrated the
multiple German champion like a pop star. “When you say you are a pro, they are totally
enthusiastic and get shining eyes,” said Borger, who also really gave her all. “I was really challenged,
often ending up in the sand,” she said, “but it was really nice. We had many rallies, I danced,
laughed, and joked around with the referee.”

Borger had already accompanied the preparation training course of Special Olympics Germany (SOD)
in May in Herzogenaurach with 50 athletes. How a famous role model can boost motivation,
she experienced during her visit to the Games. “Some have made great progress,” she said,
“they obviously practiced a lot since Herzogenaurach. I was really impressed, and the coach
was also surprised.”

Karla Borger is relatively new as a supporter of Special Olympics but was immediately infected by
the “Special Olympics virus.” “Training together in the sand and experiencing how sport connects,
motivates, and strengthens people was something special. Above all, the team spirit and the
joy of all athletes remain in the mind,” she wrote on LinkedIn after her first encounter in Herzogenaurach.

She would have “loved to be there” at the World Games in Berlin, but as an active athlete and
president of the Athletes Germany association, there was no time for that. While the Games
were being celebrated in Berlin, she was attending the Sports Ministers Conference as a representative
of the German federal squad athletes.
Now, as her term as Athletes’ President ends in 2025, just like her international career,
there is a bit more time for other things. Although her active career is not really over.
Borger is now involved in youth development at the Stuttgart training center of the German
Volleyball Federation, supporting young players on and off the court. She has been training and
playing in tournaments for the second year now with youth player Victoria O’Hara from the
youth team, to pass on her experience directly. This, like Special Olympics, is a project close to
Karla Borger’s heart. After all, she remembers her own start in competitive sports and how well
she was welcomed by the older players in indoor volleyball when she was a young player.
Therefore, her intensive training is far from over, but no longer quite at the level she trained
for events such as the Olympic Games.

However, there is now time for a much-acclaimed visit to the Special Olympics National Games
in Saarland.

Text: Ulrike Spitz

The attached photo is available for free use with credit given.
Credit: SOD/ Tilo Wiedensohler