Karla Borger: FISU Games laid base for beach volleyball success

When beach volleyball star Karla Borger looks back on a career which includes two Olympic appearances and a world championships silver medal, she knows she owes much to competing under the spotlight – and in the heat – of the FISU World University Games.

Playing alongside compatriot Britta Büthe, the then 22-year-old won her first major international title in testing temperatures at the 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen, China,

“I knew that in my whole life, there would never again be a tournament like this,” Borger, who turns 36 on Friday, said.

“Everything coming up could not be as hard as playing in Shenzen. This was the maximum I could ever punish my body, and this made me really strong in my head. My whole body was telling me, ‘Don’t go out there, Karla, it’s insane’. But then I told myself, ‘Ok, if I feel like this, my opponent has to suffer even more’.”

Suffer they did, all the way through nine days of competition to the gold medal match, when the German duo overcame USA in 40-degree heat at the Dameisha Beach venue in Shenzhen.

“Britta and I were always amazing at the mental part. We were mentally ready for that. I don’t know how, but we started smiling. We showed that we loved to play in the heat.”

The gold medal for Borger and Büthe justified a tough call made by their coach, Jörg Ahmann, who had won the men’s bronze for Germany at Olympic Games Sydney 2000 alongside Axel Hager. He encouraged the pair to focus on the Universiade, rather than aim too high, too soon, by going for London 2012.

“He told us we had a choice," Borger recalled. “He said, ‘If you play the Universiade in Shenzhen, it’s going to prepare you for all the upcoming events: the world championships, the Olympics. He helped us to figure out what was best for the team, and I’m really thankful he told us that it was better to focus on the Universiade.

“There was probably a little less pressure (on us). At this time, we were just starting out in our careers. If I had already been world champion or whatever, I don’t know if the university games would have been more pressure for me. But at this time we were still young kiddos. We enjoyed playing it a lot."

"There was also a lot of media for a World University Games. I remember when we won we were shown in videos and pictures on the public transportation."

With her Shenzhen memories still burning bright, even if the heat of the occasion has since melted away, Borger is now sharpening her focus on the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, for which she is the elected chair of the Board of Trustees.

“It’s so nice to have it in Germany - we can support our youth and it’s a big chance for them to play on a high level,” she said. “It’s going to have a great impact on kids in the cities and around the region. They will love to come to cheer for Germany or for the other athletes, and to attend the side events which are planned.”

Borger knows the magic of multi-sport events as well as anyone. Her Universiade success in 2011 was later followed by two Olympic Games appearances, at Rio 2016 and Tokyo in the year 2021.

“We have to bring people in Germany back to all the sports,” she said. “People in Germany are getting more unhealthy; we need to move more, get the screen time down and not stay on social media or e-games, and show kids – especially - how to do sports again.”

“Next year they will know. We are working to show the people and the federations that it’s going to be a great event. I promise that after the FISU World University Games, especially the region but also in all of Germany, the people will say, ‘Wow, that’s amazing, we should have it more often’.”

Borger was speaking to the 14 November instalment of the international online lecture series ‘Rhine-Ruhr et al. (2025)’. Running every Thursday until 23 January 2025, the series is being hosted by the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences (Hamburg) in tandem with the Organising Committee. For more information, click here.

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