Popp leads DFB women’s Olympic squad

Captain Alexandra Popp leads the 18-strong squad of women’s soccer players for the Olympic Games in Paris. The 33-year-old is the only remaining player in the DFB team coached by Horst Hrubesch who was on the pitch in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 when the gold medal was won. The soccer players are part of the fourth round of nominations, in which the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) awarded 215 athletes a ticket to Paris.

Four footballers on call

Hrubesch had to reduce his squad of 23 players from the European Championship qualifiers. Long-time regulars Sara Däbritz from Olympique Lyon, who has to recover from an ankle injury, and Lina Magull (Inter Milan) are completely missing.

“The Olympic experience is great, very special and incomparable to anything else. Our goal is clear: we are going to France, not just to take part – we want to play for the medals,” said Hrubesch in a DFB statement. His team will face Australia in the preliminary round of the Olympic tournament on July 25, record world champions USA on July 28, also in Marseille, and Zambia on July 31 in Saint-Étienne.

Grozer leads volleyball – handball and basketball still without concrete squad

In the fourth round of nominations, tickets were awarded to athletes from 23 sports, including the volleyball team led by 39-year-old Georg Grozer, who are taking part in the Olympics for the first time since 2012. The squads for the two national hockey teams were also announced. According to the DOSB, the names of the handball and basketball teams for both women and men will be announced at a later date.

There were no surprises in the gymnastics team for Paris. The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist on parallel bars, Lukas Dauser, is in the squad despite an injury. One of the biggest medal candidates in the German Olympic team is gymnastics star Darja Varfolomeev.

Cyclist Degenkolb not present

The track cyclists, including the two sprinters Lea Sophie Friedrich and Emma Hinze, are also travelling to Paris with hopes of winning a medal. On the road, veteran John Degenkolb is not taking part, having to give way to Nils Politt and Maximilian Schachmann.

Modern pentathlete Annika Zillekens will receive a ticket to Paris. Under her birth name Schleu, she became a tragic figure at the Tokyo Games when she tried unsuccessfully to get her randomly assigned horse to jump by using a whip and spurs.

More than 380 German athletes have now been nominated for Paris. The last official nomination round will take place this Friday.