Laudehr: “Winning a medal at the Olympics is an amazing feeling.”

Simone Laudehr won bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and has been preparing for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (3rd to 20th August) with the women’s national team since Monday. There will be three more preparatory steps to complete before the team flies out to Rio on 29th June, following the end of the training camp in Grassau on Tuesday. In a interview with Paula Widmer, the 29-year-old spoke about the preparation, her experience in 2008 and her Olympic tattoo.

DFB.de: Miss Laudehr, you began preparing for the Olympics on Monday. How has it been so far?

Simone Laudehr: The atmosphere is very, very good. We all know how it is going to go and what we want to achieve. We will be trying to reach our goal with passion and fun, but we will also try to be calm and focused. We have the perfect conditions here in Grassau, a brilliant football pitch, a great hotel with everything we could wish for; a spa area that we can use to help us recover, a pool and ice baths. We are very happy here and can really get to grips with the basics.

DFB.de: How big is the anticipation ahead of the Olympic Games?

Laudehr: The players have been focusing on the women’s Bundesliga first and foremost and some of the squad were involved in the DFB Cup and Champions League finals. We were able to have a small break and turn our focus to the preparation after all of this had passed. I can only say how great it is to win a medal at the Olympic Games and how brilliant it would be to take home gold. It is a real incentive to give our all and something we are all conscious of.

DFB.de: You don’t only have a medal, you also have the Olympic rings on your arm…

Laudehr: When I get tattoos they mean something to me. There is always a story behind them. I got this tattoo after the 2008 Olympic Games. I get asked by strangers from time-to-time about it, who then want to know what it was like to be there. It is nice to talk about it. The Olympic Games have been around for ages and it was an amazing feeling to be there and win a medal.

DFB.de: Do your team mates also ask you about your experiences at the Olympics?

Laudehr: Yeah some have asked me about it, for example, what it was like in the Olympic Village, how we achieved what we did in Beijing – as a football team you aren’t even in the Olympic Village to begin with. We then speak about the experience. The players who haven’t managed to go yet are itching to get a taste of it and it’s great to see.

DFB.de: What are the main areas the team is concentrating on during preparation?

Laudehr: The focus is on fitness to begin with. We want to grow as a team and make sure that we are in the right place mentally. We want to be have no distractions and be fully focused. We are working hard from training to training to make the most of it. Obviously, there are sometimes days when things don’t go as well but that’s totally normal. We have to make sure that we recover well between the sessions in order to be in the best shape possible when we depart. Everything is very compact at the Olympic football tournament so fitness plays an extremely big role.