Athlete spokeswoman Karla Borger considers the call for a new German Olympic bid in the wake of the European Championships in Munich to be premature.
“Does it have to be new impetus for an Olympic application, or can it first bring a bit of impetus to the clubs in Germany and encourage more children and young people to do sports again? I think there is more demand at the moment,” she said President of the Athletes Germany Association of the German Press Agency.
With the Multi-EM starting on August 11th in Munich, many also hope for positive advertising for a renewed attempt at the Olympic Games in Germany. Borger initially considers other questions to be more urgent. “The most important thing – I think – is still to clarify the question in Germany, which competitive sport do we want and how can we achieve the desired goal,” said the beach volleyball player.
Even if people in Germany are enthusiastic about the Olympics from Borger’s point of view, “a lot needs to be done in terms of sustainability and fairness, especially when it comes to the award,” said the 33-year-old. Among the athletes there is also “a sense of issues such as sustainability, climate protection and equality”. Therefore, a new application must be linked to “many conditions”.
A series of German Olympic applications had recently been unsuccessful, also because the citizens were against it – for example when trying to host the 2022 Winter Games with Munich and the 2024 Summer Games with Hamburg. Before the European Championships in Munich, Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, said: “The example of Munich can also help to increase acceptance and approval for the Olympics in our country.”
