Medical student hopes to ‘spike’ his way to the Paris Olympics
A young aspiring doctor from Pretoria dreams of representing his country at the Olympic Games in Paris later this year as a beach volleyball player.

The word ‘spike’ will undoubtedly impact Danilo von Ludwiger’s life in 2024 when he is in hospital or playing beach volleyball.
How else? After all, the popular sportsman is a sixth-year medical student. It means he will spend a lot of his time in a hospital where a patient’s temperature can spike at any moment. When it happens, he must come up with the correct diagnosis.
But he is also a hopeful Olympian. One thing certain is that Von Ludwiger and his volleyball teammate, Leo Williams, will have to spike a lot to get to Paris.
A ‘spike’ is when a player forcefully hits the ball downwards with the palm of his hand. If perfectly executed it is usually points on the board.
The two teammates nearly got it right during a recent decisive game against Mosambique’s Ainadino Martinho and Jorge Monjane. Although they lost, Von Ludwiger and Williams still qualified to compete at the African Games in Ghana in March.
“The Games in Ghana will be a good opportunity to ‘take stock’. Most African teams hoping to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games will be in action. So, it will be good to play against them to assess their strength and weaknesses,” Von Ludwiger said in retrospect.
Von Ludwiger and Williams are currently ranked as Africa’s third-best beach volleyball combination. Jose Mondlane and Osvaldo Mungoi, also from Mozambique, are the top-ranked team. Botswana’s Sekao Jac and George Chiswaniso are ranked second. Martinho and Monjane are ranked fourth.
According to Von Ludwiger, there is never any mercy when Africa’s top four teams clash in the sand.

Photo: Reg Caldecott
“On any given day, any team can win. So far, we have played Mozambique on four occasions. We share the spoils with two victories each. Of the six encounters against Botswana, we have won four. They have been victorious twice,” he explained.
The Continental Cup Tournament in June will be do or die for all teams aspiring to contest the Paris Games. The top 24 teams in Africa are competing. The team that wins is off to the Olympics. That is why Von Ludwiger and Leo Williams plan to go to Europe in May. It will be an excellent way to sharpen their skills.
“Things tend to get heated during a game. I love it when it happens. I am more focused and more energetic. It is a case of controlling my emotions and using the game’s fire to my benefit,” Von Ludwiger answered when he was asked what he considers to be his best attribute as a player.
It was Von Ludwiger’s uncle who got him interested in volleyball.
“He was coaching volleyball. He scouted me during a ‘family meeting’. Apart from a passion for the game and an understanding of the game, the most important thing my uncle taught me was that volleyball can never be more important than family and living life to its fullest,” he said.
That is why he is glad that he decided to study medicine.
“When I stop playing, I have something to fall back on. Over the last five years, I have learned that time management is paramount. If not for that, I would not have been able to abide by my life motto of working hard and playing even harder,” he concluded.
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