Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016 - Germany's #8 seed, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe starts off the night session on day two with a pool E match against Switzerland's Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr. Zumkehr will be looking to improve on her 9th-place finish in London (2012), while the three other players will be making the Olympic Games debut.
Head to Head
Borger/Buthe lead the series 3-1 on the FIVB World Tour, including a straight set 21-18 and 21-19 in their only meeting in 2016 in pool play at the Gstaad Major last month. The two pairs first met in June, 2014 at the Berlin Grand Slam in the round of 16 with the Germans winning in straight sets. Their other two matches were both in pool play and both required a third set with Borger/Buthe winning at the Gstaad Grand Slam in July, 2014, 18-21, 21-18, and 15-13 and Heidrich/Zumkehr winning at the Yokohama Grand Slam in July, 2015, 21-19, 16-21, and 15-13.
Historically the #8 seed has won all five matches, one each in the five previous Olympic Games, against the #17 seed. Teams from Germany have been the #8 seed in the last four Olympics, Ulrike Schmidt/Gudi Staub in Sydney (2000), Stephanie Pohl/Okka Rau in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), and Sara Goller Niedrig/Laura Ludwig in London (2012). The closest match was in London where Neidrig/Ludwig defeated Australia's Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, 21-18, 19-21, and 15-8 in 53 minutes. In sideout scoring at the Atlanta Olympics (1996), Japan's Sachiko Fujita/Yukiko Takahashi shut out Indonesia's Eta Kaize/Timy Yudhani Rahayu, 15-0 in 18 minutes.
Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, Seed #8, Pool E, Qualified 9th with 5,260 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Karla: November 22, 1988 (27y8m15d), 180 cm (5'11"), 68 kg (151 lbs.), Hometown Heppenheim, 73rd FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $302,450 career winnings (ranks 54th)
• Britta: May 25, 1988 (28y2m12d), 185 cm (6'1"), 78 kg (173 lbs.), Hometown Dearborn, 65th FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $296,900 career winnings (ranks 56th)
• Karla and Britta have been playing together since 2010. They are playing in their 64th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 30th), one gold medal, $593,800 career winnings (ranks 18th). They rank second behind Spain's Baquerizo/Fernandez (97) in FIVB World Tour events played together amongst the teams competing in the Rio Olympics.
• Karla has played in eight FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, two silver, three bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Britta has played in eight FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, two silver, three bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Karla and Britta have played in four Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Gold Lucerne Open 2015, 4th St. Petersburg Grand Slam 2015, Bronze Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016, Bronze Porec Major 2016).
• Karla and Britta won the silver medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and finished 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Karla and Britta are currently ranked 4th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,700 points and 5th in winnings with $138,875.
• Karla and Britta have a career 195-105 (65.0%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 75-29 (72.1%) record in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period.
• Karla and Britta won the bronze medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2016 (Biel, Switzerland).
• Britta won the bronze medal at the U19 World Championships with Svenja Engelhardt in 2006 (Bermuda, Bermuda).
• Karla was named the FIVB World Tour Best Server in 2014.
• Britta was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2011.
• Britta is the heaviest women's player competing in the Rio Olympics at 78 kg (173 lbs.). She is tied for seventh heaviest all-time behind Czech Republic's Eva Celbova Rysava (2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens), Australia's Liane Fenwick (1996 Atlanta), Belgium's Liesbeth Mouha (2008 Beijing), and Mexico's Bibiana Candelas (2008 Beijing), at 80 kg (178 lbs.).
Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, Seed #17, Pool E, Qualified 14th with 4,620 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Joana: October 2, 1991 (24y10m4d), 190 cm (6'3"), 72 kg (160 lbs.), Hometown Zürich, 59th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $189,250 career winnings (ranks 94th)
• Nadine: February 5, 1985 (31y6m1d), 172 cm (5'8"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown Frutigen, 120th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 24th), four gold medals, $381,300 career winnings (ranks 38th)
• Joana and Nadine have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 43rd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 68th), two gold medals, $350,300 career winnings (ranks 45th).
• Joana has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.
• Nadine has played in nine FIVB World Tour final fours with four gold, one silver, three bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Joana and Nadine have played in five Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Sochi Open 2015, Gold Xiamen Open 2015, Bronze Fuzhou Open 2016, Gold Sochi Open 2016, Silver Klagenfurt Major 2016).
• Nadine finished 9th in the Olympic Games with Simone Kuhn in 2012 (London).
• Joana and Nadine finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 33rd in 2015 (The Hague).
• Nadine finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships with Annik Skrivan in 2007 (Gstaad) and 17th in 2009 (Stavanger) and 17th in 2011 (Rome), both with Simone Kuhn.
• Joana and Nadine are currently ranked 11th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,940 points and 7th in winnings with $111,150.
• Joana and Nadine have a career 111-87 (56.1%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 73-44 (62.4%) record in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period.
• Joana and Nadine have won one gold medal and one silver medal on the European (CEV) Continental Tour.
• Joana Heidrich won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships with Nina Betschart in 2011 (Halifax, Canada).
• Nadine won the bronze medal at the CEV Continental Championships with Simone Kuhn in 2009 (Sochi, Russia).