By Leo Adam Biga for VolleyballMag
Jordan Larson chose not to play volleyball this season.
And with the Paris Olympics drawing near, the USA Volleyball star is unapologetically self-reflective as she prepares for the last stage of a legacy-making career. Though Larson acknowledges it’s unusual that her teammates are playing overseas and she’s not, she confided, “emotionally, I just wasn’t ready to play. There’s not burnout but just a different level of what is happening around me and what I want to invest in.
“My teammates are all busting their butts overseas and working really hard and they’re probably looking at me, thinking, ‘Wait, she’s not playing but is kind of in the loop. How is this going to work?’ ”
Admittedly, she said, “Me not playing is a risk. But I also know … that getting my body healthy is really important. Staying healthy, strong and continuing to ramp up, also having support in a tough transition time, was the best thing for me.”
Larson is going all-in on what shapes up to be her last Olympics. She spurned offers to play professionally overseas or with the Pro Volleyball Federation in order to have a singular focus on getting her mind and body right at the USA Volleyball training center in Anaheim. At 37, she’s by far the oldest player in the USA gym.
Rigorously following routines helped get Larson to her status as one of the greatest ever to wear a USA uniform.
But when her well-ordered life hit a glitch a couple years ago, the three-time Olympic medalist did a reset. After leading the USA. to gold in Tokyo, where she was named tournament MVP, she considered retiring. Soon after the Games she married and took a job as an assistant coach at Texas. The marriage didn’t work out and Larson left Austin for the sanctuary of home – her native Nebraska.
“When you’re traveling as an athlete you don’t really have a home base, you’re kind of living out of your suitcase. I’ve always had a sense of community being from Nebraska. So coming back, getting grounded again, being surrounded by people who love and pour into me has been a big part of building myself back up … and figuring out what my next steps are. That’s kind of what this time has been about.”
Larson played pro seasons in China and Italy in 2023, committed to make another run at the 2024 Olympics, and then took a job as an…
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