The wait has come to an end for the first athletes: Starting Monday, individual athletes can train again - outdoors and subject to conditions. How this should look is still unclear in many places, and yet the anticipation is great - especially among the top athletes from the region.
District - The first placed a homemade weight bench on the terrace, the second did jumping exercises and speed runs alone on a dirt road, and the third looked for quiet corners in the Olympic Park, where he can carry out his basic training undisturbed. Shot put Christian Zimmermann and sprinter Fabian Olbert, both from Kirchheim, and high jumper Tobias Potye from Aschheim each went their own way in the Corona crisis to keep fit. Now that the return to the sports fields is getting closer, however, the reaction of the three top athletes is unanimous: With "joy and relief" - all say in unison - the Prime Minister's announcement has been taken note of the fact that individual sports outdoors and thus also athletics -Training should be allowed again from Monday.
athletics
Annoyed: Christian Zimmermann from Kirchheim knows: "The group of my national coach in Chemnitz, for example, has been training at the local Olympic base for three weeks now."
© Ralf Görlitz / Archive
With Christian Zimmermann, the anticipation also mixes with anger - he is "really annoyed", says the shot putter of Kirchheimer SC. For one thing, the day after the announcement, he still doesn't know whether he will be allowed to train again at the Olympic Training Center (OSP) in the Werner von Linde Hall in Munich from Monday. On the other hand, he actually expected a training permit earlier, says the 25-year-old. "The group of my national coach in Chemnitz, for example, has been training at the OSP there for three weeks now," complains Zimmermann. He, however, was previously condemned to home training; only recently was he allowed to go to the sports field in Kirchheim. After all: The training shots there made him confident: "I have the impression", says Zimmermann, "that I'm in a good mood".
Sprinter Fabian Olbert was even in a really good mood before the corona lockdown. The Kirchheimer, who starts for LG Stadtwerke München, explains how the timeout has affected his form at the moment. "Only the runs on the track will show that." In any case, he was happy to soon return from the asphalt to the tartan. And seeing you again with one or the other training colleague "certainly helps with motivation," says Olbert.
His teammate at Stadtwerke München, Tobias Potye, is also full of anticipation. He also does not yet know whether he can return to his traditional training location in the Werner-von-Linde-Halle on Monday. But even if the OSP remained closed, various sports fields would be available to evade, says the Aschheimer. He is confident that there will be competitions this year, but his big goal has been postponed to 2021 anyway - the Olympics in Tokyo. In the coming months, the most important thing for him will be to “lay the foundation for next year,” says Potye. And that this will happen on the tartan track and no longer on asphalt - "my bones will thank me".
The relaxation of the Corona requirements does not only affect top athletes, but also popular sports. From Monday, training can also take place here again - outdoors, without contact and in groups of up to five people. However, a lot is still unclear regarding club sport, says Martin Kallmeyer, who is not only a trainer and department head at TSV Schleißheim, but also deputy managing director of the Bavarian Athletics Association. "Personally, I don't assume that we'll be back on the sports field with a training group on Monday," says Kallmeyer. According to him, more information from the authorities is still needed on how clubs can specifically organize training operations. "I'm careful at first," says the head of department, "even if we are all eager to finally be able to train in the community again."
tennis
TC Aschheim is also delighted that it can start again on May 11th: "Whatsapp groups are already discussing the first training times," said Chairman Roman Bartz. Because of the weather forecast, Saturday would have been better than the opening day, as he jokingly notes. But they are now using Saturday in Aschheim to prepare the seats in groups of two. Because the nets are still missing. For the first time, places have to be reserved via an online booking system so that no crowds of people are produced on the place booking board. But the small group regulation of five people also takes the tennis players an unexpected step right from the start: doubles are possible.
golf
In the Golfpark Aschheim, managing director Jochen Hornig had actually hoped that his members could swing the club again from May 4th. But he gladly accepts the one-week delay: "If the price is another wait for a week that we can start with four-man flights, I will gladly pay for it!" Because in her details of the new easing from May 11th, Bavarian state government Individual sports in small groups of up to five people permitted, and that means for golfers: four flights and training with groups of four is possible. The golf club has already informed its members about the opening from next Monday, but will now submit the concrete new “rules of the game”. "We had a feeling like that and the reservations weren't open yet," explains Hornig, who will now open his booking system with four-person flights and thus save himself and his members the restricted operation with the originally planned two-person flights. A prior booking of the start time is a prerequisite for getting on the system, and of course distance and hygiene rules must also be observed. But even the physical well-being of the golfers will be taken care of: in the coming week the golf park host will offer packed sandwiches and drinks after the ninth hole, after the round the golfers can take pre-ordered food home with them.