By Nikolay Markov
Shortly after being crowned the first European Queen of the Court, Chantal Laboureur has announced her retirement from beach volleyball. One of Europe`s leading defenders in the sport, she steps away just two years shy of potentially competing at the Paris Olympic Games.
The 32-year-old German player explained her decision: “It would have been ‘just two years’ [to Paris], but also ‘still two more years’. I stopped because I felt that private life got more and more important for me and, in the end, I also want to start a family. I can no longer prioritize beach volleyball for another two years.”
The inaugural Queen & King of the Court European Finals last month were among Laboureur`s final professional appearances. After her victory there with Karla Borger, she won gold at the 2022 International Military Sports Council Beach Cup alongside Cinja Tillmann, concluding her career with her last two VW Beach Pro Tour events (Paris Elite16 and Maldives Challenge) partnered with Sarah Schulz.
Laboureur`s international journey began 15 years ago, when she and Levke Spinger claimed the continental trophy at the 2007 CEV U18 European Championship in Czechia. They followed this with a U19 world championship title in the Netherlands in 2008. Her success at the youth level continued with U23 European Championship medals: bronze in 2011 and gold in 2012.
She joined the senior European Tour in 2009, earning her first medal, a bronze, with Julia Sude at the 2013 Montpellier Satellite. The pair went on to win several European Masters gold medals in Biel/Bienne (2014), Baku (2014), Jurmala (2016), and Baden (2017), plus a bronze at the 2017 CEV European Championship in Latvia.
Recalling her extensive career, Laboureur stated, “I remember all these very well. My first international tournament was the CEV U18 European Championships in Brno 15 years ago, followed by years on the European Tour and the bronze medals at the European Championships in Jurmala with ice hockey fans from Germany cheering for us. I don’t even remember right now how many European Championships I attended, but it felt like a lot.”
She still holds fresh memories of her final EuroBeachVolley appearance in Munich this August, where she and Schulz finished fifth in what she described as “an outstanding atmosphere.” She added a warm message for her recent partner: “Big hug to my youngest partner Sarah, by the way! She is one of the kindest players and persons I know!”
Beyond CEV events, Laboureur also achieved considerable success. On the FIVB World Tour, she secured two gold, six silver, and three bronze medals, and added a silver from the inaugural VW Beach Pro Tour this year. An Olympic appearance was a near miss; she and Sandra Ittlinger lost the crucial qualifying match for Tokyo 2020. Domestically, she claimed three German national championship titles and was named Germany’s Player of the Year in 2018, also winning the German King of the Court tournament last year.
Reflecting on her career, Laboureur shared, “So many great memories! And so many great tournaments! I really enjoyed the time and I want to thank everybody who was or still is involved in making us players have a good time!” She acknowledged the demands of professional sport: “Beach volleyball gave me so much, but as a professional athlete you have to sacrifice a big part of your social life, for example. We are far from home for many weeks and we can’t attend family life like others do. I love this sport so much and if I could do everything at the same time and the day had 48 hours, I would probably play until I`m 50, but that’s not the case.”
Looking ahead, she said, “Now I will travel for some time and, when I come back, I will finish my medical studies (I have one year of practical work left) and aim at having kids.”
She concluded by leaving the door open for a potential return to the sport in a different role: “And then, who knows, maybe she will gracefully return to the sand courts in one role or another…”
Gideon Holt 
Torin Vale