Kerri Pottharst

Kerri Pottharst
Kerri Pottharst (r.) With Natalie Cook at the 2000 Olympic Games
portrait
birthday	June 25, 1965
place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
size	1.84 m
Partner	1993–1994 Annette Huygens Tholen 1994–1997 Natalie Cook 1998–1999 Pauline Manser 1999–2002 Natalie Cook 2004 Summer Lochowicz
successes
1996 - Vice World Champion in Rio de Janeiro 1996 - Bronze medal Olympic Games Atlanta 2000 - Gold medal Olympic Games Sydney 2004 - 9th place Olympic Games Athens
(As of August 30, 2011)

Kerri Ann Pottharst (born June 25, 1965 in Adelaide , South Australia , Australia ) is a former professional volleyball and beach volleyball player. She became Olympic champion in 2000 with partner Natalie Cook and is a member of the Order of Australia .

Career

Pottharst made his debut on the Australian national volleyball team in 1982, established himself as a regular and became captain of the selection. In 1990 she made history when she became the first Australian player to join the strong Italian Serie A in Bologna . In 1992 Pottharst suffered a serious knee injury that nearly ended her career. After an 18-month break from competitions and several operations, it was clear that her leg could not withstand the strain on the hard hall floor. Pottharst made a virtue out of necessity and made his beach volleyball debut in 1993. Together with Natalie Cook , she established herself as one of the strongest players and won bronze at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and silver at the 1996 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro .

1997 turned out to be disappointing and due to internal tensions, the duo decided to part ways. Pottharst played on the side of Pauline Manser , but without being able to build on the previous successes. In 1999 Pottharst and Cook got back together and took many podium places, but without being able to win a tournament. Nevertheless, before the 2000 Olympics, they were among the favorites in front of their own audiences. In the final they defeated the higher rated Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede (Brazil) with 12-11 and 12-10 and won gold. Thus, they took their first international victory ever .

They could not confirm this triumph in the next few years, but remained in the expanded world elite. In 2003 Pottharst announced her resignation, so that Cook from then on played with Nicole Sanderson . But a year later Pottharst made her comeback and worked with Summer Lochowicz on qualifying for the 2004 Olympics . This succeeded, and Pottharst and Lochowitz finished ninth. Ironically, Cook / Sanderson and Pottharst / Lochowitz met in the round of 16 , where Cook / Sanderson won by 2–0 sets. Pottharst ended her career at the age of 39. After her active career, she worked as a beach volleyball coach and motivational speaker.

Pottharst is 1.84 meters tall and weighed 70 kilograms at competition times. She speaks English, German and Italian and promotes organ donation . During her career, she made about $ 850,000. Pottharst currently lives in Fairlight .

successes

• Gold medal Olympic Games 2000
• Silver medal World Championships 1996
• Bronze medal Olympic Games 1996
• In 2007 he was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame
• Member of the Order of Australia
• Together with Natalie Cook: Election to one of the two "female beach volleyball teams of the decade 1990 - 2000"

Web links

• Official Homepage (English)
• Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hall of Fame ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.