PressSplit
The gold medal of the German 3×3 basketball team is one of the great Olympic sensations. Sonja Greinacher’s participation was unclear until the very end.
Frankfurt – Together they wrote basketball history: The success of Sonja Greinacher, Svenja Brunckhorst, Marie Reichert and Elisa Mevius in Olympic 3×3 basketball was one of the big surprises of the past Olympic Games. Greinacher’s participation hung by a thread until the very end due to an injury.
German 3×3 basketball players: Led through the group phase by Sonja Greinacher
Even in the preliminary round, the four players played as one. In seven matches, they suffered only one defeat (21:19 against Australia). They played successfully in the other six matches and were sometimes on the court twice a day.
Always in the spotlight: Sonja Greinacher. In five of the seven games in the group phase, she was the most accurate German shooter. The same applies to the semi-final against Canada and the final against Spain, which meant the triumph in Paris. Of course, the decisive basket was scored by Greinacher herself, who is known in the basketball world as “Sunny-G”.
Almost unbeatable: the German 3×3 basketball team © IMAGO/Andre Weening
Before the Olympic Games: Sonja Greinacher broke her hand
In the end, the Essen native scored 56 points, which earned her the MVP award along with her omnipresent style of play. She had to deal with a serious injury before the games began and had to work hard for her comeback.
German medalists at the Olympics: Drama, dominance and surprises
View photo gallery
She has now provided impressive proof personally on her Instagram account. There she posted an X-ray showing a fracture in her hand. She wrote: “Three weeks before our first Olympic match, I broke my hand in a warm-up game in France. While qualifying for the Olympic Games was always my biggest dream as an athlete, the second challenge was actually getting there without injuring myself.”
In the same article, she shares the fate of all athletes who missed their Olympic dream due to an injury. She then includes her teammates and the medical staff in a big thank you.
What remains of the injury is a great comeback, crowned with Olympic gold, as well as a team performance that can be a building block for the development of German basketball. (that)
