Basketball player Svenja Brunckhorst is angry with the German Basketball Association (DBB) after being forced to choose between two Olympic competitions. “Until recently, our plan was to take part in both competitions,” the 32-year-old told Daily Mirror about herself and her friend Sonja Greinacher. “But then the DBB put a stop to it all.” Both athletes had qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris with the national basketball team, but also for the 3×3 basketball variant. In the end they decided on the latter. The preliminary round in the classic five-a-side game will take place in Lille, 3×3 basketball on the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris.
Brunckhorst, who will end her career after the Games and is already working at Alba Berlin as manager for the women’s and girls’ division, was captain of the national team. She was particularly annoyed by the communication from the DBB. It was “suboptimal – to put it nicely”. She stressed: “If the association had said from the start that it wouldn’t work, it would have been OK”. There are understandable reasons why a double start is difficult, even if the statutes would have allowed double participation. The decision was very difficult for her. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old is now looking forward to the Games. “The Olympics are every athlete’s dream,” she said. “It will probably be the greatest experience of my career.”