Kira Katharina Walkenhorst (born 18 November 1990) is a retired German

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

player who played as a blocker. She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball player and a younger sister Pia Walkenhorst who also plays beach volleyball. Walkenhorst won the gold medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro together and at the 2017 World Championships with her teammate

Laura Ludwig Laura Ludwig-Bowes (born 13 January 1986) is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. Sh ...

. She also won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2014 European Beach Volleyball Championships and gold medals at the 2015 and 2016 Beach ECH alongside her teammate

. She retired from competition at the start of 2019 due to persistent injuries. In 2020, Walkenhorst made her comeback on the national tour and participated in the German championships.

Professional career

2016: Rio de Janeiro

Kira Walkenhorst participated in the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio together with her teammate

. They won the gold medal in the final match against the Brazilian duo

Ágatha Bednarczuk Ágatha Bednarczuk Rippel (born 22 June 1983), frequently referred to as just ''Ágatha'', is a Brazilian international beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships, as well as a silver m ...

and

Bárbara Seixas Bárbara Seixas de Freitas (born 8 March 1987 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. In 2012, she was named FIVB top Rookie of the year. Seixas is a three-time youth World Champion and has reached the p ...

in straight sets of 21-18, 21-14 following their victory against the Brazilian duo

Larissa França Larissa França Maestrini (born April 14, 1982) is a beach volleyball player from Brazil. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with Julia ...

and

Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was FIVB rookie of the year in 2005, and World Tour Winner twice, in 2013 and 2015. Career Born in Aquidauana, Antunes caught the ...

in the semi-finals.

2016: World Tour

Walkenhorst competed in the World Tour Finals in Toronto. With teammate Laura they finished 3rd (Last) in Pool-B with 2 losses In the quarter final match against

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

and

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places * Fort Walsh, one of the first posts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police * Walsh, Ontario, Norfolk ...

they won in 3 sets of (21-18, 19-21, 15-11), advancing to the semi final against

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and Talita of Brazil. Winning against Brazil in straight sets of (21-19, 21-19) the pair advance to the gold medal match. Another GOLD medal for the Olympic winners in straight sets of (21-18, 21-16) against the Swiss pair of Zumkehr and Heidrich

2017 season

Walkenhorst opened the 2017 season at Fort Lauderdale Major with temporary partner Julia Großner while her regular partner

recovered from a shoulder injury. They won two out of their three pool play matches to make it through to the Final 24. Here they lost 0:2 to Meppelink / Van Gestel (NED) so finished the tournament in 17th position. At the world championships in Vienna, Ludwig / Walkenhorst won the gold medal after beating

Lauren Fendrick Lauren Fendrick (born ) is an American beach volleyball player. She competed in beach volleyball at the 2016 Summer Olympics with teammate Brooke Sweat. In 2017, Fendrick and new teammate April Ross placed second at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Wo ...

and

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh ...

in the final.

Personal life

In late 2016, Walkenhorst

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a lesbian. In October 2017, she married her longtime girlfriend and trainer Maria Kleefisch. One year later, her wife Maria gave birth to triplets.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkenhorst, Kira German women's beach volleyball players Sportspeople from Essen 1990 births Living people Beach volleyball blockers Beach volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Olympic beach volleyball players of Germany Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen German LGBT sportspeople LGBT volleyball players