Beach tournament in China

40 Knabbernossi and the Olympic ticket in their sights

Alex Horst and Julian Hörl can secure their ticket for the Games in Paris at the Beach Volleyball Challenge tournament in China. Not everything went smoothly on Monday evening, with Horst's luggage missing. "It can only get better," said the Viennese. "We want to collect important points here."

First the flight was delayed due to thunderstorms, then his luggage was missing - Alex Horst arrived in Xiamen on Monday evening (CET) less than pleased. "The suitcases are probably in London, I've never experienced that before," said the Viennese, who flew with partner Julian Hörl and masseur Peter Kiss from Schwechat via London and Beijing to the southeast Chinese port city. "Not the best vacation destination," Alex winks. "After all, the tournament is being held on a beach. But nobody goes swimming here."

For Austria's top beach volleyball duo, other things count anyway - it's the penultimate Challenge tournament before the "Olympic deadline". Horst/Hörl, who start in the main competition on Friday, can still pick up a few points. "It doesn't look bad, ideally it could be decisive for us here." So that Alex and Julian can dig in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. What form are they in? "We've never been fully fit before. In Brazil, Julian also had gastrointestinal problems after me, and most recently in Mexico I was struggling with bronchitis. But now it's fine," says Horst, who has to "cut back" on food. "We won't be indulging in anything, just eating fried rice with vegetables, so to speak."

It's a shame that there are 40 original Knabbernossi in the suitcase in London. "If you open it," he smiles, "you might think I want to import meat."