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Athletes Germany around fencer Max Hartung is one of the clients of the study
Photo:
Federico Gambarini DPA
The corona pandemic has cost the top German athletes a quarter of their income before the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and in Beijing in 2022.
This is the result of a study by the Sports University Cologne, which was commissioned by the German Sports Aid and the Federal Institute for Sports Science and carried out in cooperation with the Athletes Germany Association and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
On average, the 466 members of the Olympic and Paralympic squads lack 1,287 euros a month.
"Our results demonstrate the extensive effects of the corona pandemic on the financial situation of Germany's top athletes," says the head of the study, Christoph Breuer from the sports university, who presented the results to the Bundestag Sports Committee: "They fall especially for participants in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Losses dramatically. "
For the next year, top athletes expect even greater losses - despite the prospect of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan.
The funding from the German Sports Aid Foundation remains stable, as does the support for owners of a sports funding agency.
The losses mainly relate to entry and prize money as well as sponsorship contracts.
"The results of the study are worrying. We must not allow athletes to get into the situation of not being able to cover their living costs," said Max Hartung, President of Athleten Germany: "They must also be able to provide the necessary To be able to continue to afford the costs of practicing their sport - such as those for equipment, travel expenses or additional physiotherapy. "
In the survey carried out in October, 40 percent of all athletes sponsored by Sporthilfe from the Olympic, Paralympic, Perspective, Supplementary and Young Talent levels took part.
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