Markéta Sluková (; born 28 June 1988) is a Czech beach volleyball player. She took part in the Summer Olympics twice, finishing fifth in London in 2012, as well as reaching the last 16 of the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016. Outside of Olympic competition Sluková won silver at the 2016 , as well as three golds on the FIVB World Tour.

Early career

Sluková competed on the

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the ' (Fédération ...

and was named the FIVB Rookie of the Year in 2010 with her partner

Kristýna Kolocová Kristýna Kolocová (; born 1 April 1988) is a former Czech beach volleyball player. She and Markéta Sluková placed 5th at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Ki ...

. With Kolocová she achieved fifth place at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. During the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Sluková and Kolocová won gold medals at the Prague Open and Berlin Grand Slam, as well as a bronze medal at the Gstaad Grand Slam.

Partnership with Barbora Hermannová

From August 2015 until 2021, Sluková played with Barbora Hermannová, and they were coached by Simon Nausch. Their first success was winning gold at the October 2015 World Tour tournament in Antalya. The pair reached the final of the , winning silver after losing in the final to defending champions

Laura Ludwig Laura Ludwig-Bowes (born 13 January 1986) is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. Sh ...

and

Kira Walkenhorst Kira Katharina Walkenhorst (born 18 November 1990) is a German retired beach volleyball player who played as a Beach volleyball#Player specializations, blocker. She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball ...

. It marked the first time a Czech team had won a European medal in beach volleyball since 2002, and Sluková was named the championship's most valuable player. They took part in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro, where they reached the round of 16. Although they qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, held in 2021, the team had to withdraw after Nausch Sluková became the fifth member of the Czech team to test positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, just two days before the start of the competition. Due to the same reason, Nausch Sluková did not participate in August 2021's European Championships, and was replaced in the Czech team by Marie-Sára Štochlová. At the end of August 2021 Nausch Sluková announced she was taking a break from the sport to start a family.

Personal life

Sluková married Austrian volleyball coach Simon Nausch in the United States in 2016 after a seven-year relationship. She gave birth to a daughter in June 2022.

Gallery

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slukova, Marketa 1988 births Czech beach volleyball players Living people Beach volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players for the Czech Republic Women's beach volleyball players Volleyball players from Prague