Laura Glauser: new mum and EURO title contender
Just six months ago, French goalkeeper Laura Glauser gave birth to a little girl, and the arrival has changed pretty much everything in the top-level athlete’s life. From her body to her daily routine, Glauser had to adapt everything to the newcomer, and this has not been the simplest of things.
“I’m someone who’s very organised, who needs to be in control. To say that everything became the opposite when the baby arrived is an understatement. Mentally, that wasn’t easy. But as time goes on, you learn to find arrangements and now, my husband and I have made every piece fit together,” says Glauser.
Three months after the birth, Laura Glauser was back to training with her club, Women’s EHF Champions League participants Metz Handball. For sure, the first days were hard, after stopping almost all physical activity during almost nine months. The way she saw her body had completely changed too.
“I loved having a big belly when I was pregnant. But once the baby was out, I hated my body. I wanted it to change right away and maybe I put a little bit too much pressure on myself at the start. I had to think about the situation and tell myself that things were going to come back to normal step by step,” explains the 25-year-old.
“Even if you’re a top-level athlete, getting your body back into shape is tough. Every part of it has forgotten the suffering of a physical preparation. What Laura has done in the past few months is impressive, and she’s definitely on the right track,” adds France team coach Olivier Krumbholz.
As priorities go, things are not the same for the French goalkeeper anymore. While handball was a considerable part of her life before, the arrival of her daughter has made Glauser see things a little bit differently. “When I had a bad training or a bad game, I would think about it all the time. Now, when I come back home, I leave everything at the door. I think that, in my life, the priorities have changed, and how I see handball too,” she explains.
Tough competition for France’s goal
But despite being immersed in motherhood, Glauser has returned to the court – because the EHF EURO is looming, time is ticking fast and there are other goalkeepers who would be more than happy to take the court in Nancy on 29 November.
For Krumbholz, the choice between the three top-level Champions League goalkeepers – Amandine Leynaud (Györ), Laura Glauser (Metz) and Cleopatre Darleux (Brest) – has always been tough.
“Nothing’s written yet. A lot of things can still happen before the EURO,” said Krumbholz during the preparation week in October. “You have to give credit to Laura for the effort she put in to come back, but I’ll make my decision regarding what each goalkeeper can bring to the team.”
While she was enjoying the pleasures of pregnancy, Glauser missed out on winning the World Championship title with France last December. Even though she was not far from the squad, even travelling to Germany for some matches, she still feels like she missed something. “I was very happy for the girls – they’re all my friends so I was 100 per cent behind them. But you can’t help but think that you might have liked to be part of it too,” says Glauser, who has yet to win a gold medal with France.
“Emotionally, it’s going to be great”
Having missed the World Championship gold medal with a home EHF EURO not far away, is Glauser’s hunger for success even bigger? “I have very high goals – not just because I missed the last international competition. That’s who I am as a handball player. If the EURO had been played somewhere else, my motivation would have been exactly the same,” says Glauser.
With little time left before the beginning of the competition, her focus is firmly on the opening game against Russia. “We owe ourselves revenge after what happened at the Olympics. The EURO is the most difficult competition there is, with all the top nations gathered. We know that we’ll have to take the maximum points in the preliminary round so we have the best chance to qualify for the semi-final,” says Glauser.
One thing that she is sure of is that the support of the home crowd will be a decisive factor for France in the race for a medal. “I saw what went on during the last World Championship, with people getting interested in handball and us. I’m sure that these fans will be in the venues cheering this time. Emotionally, it’s going to be great,” concludes Glauser. And for sure, this EHF EURO will be something to tell her daughter about in a couple of years.
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Kevin Domas / cg