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Ramona Hofmeister in parallel slalom (archive image)
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Gian Ehrenzeller / dpa
Gold candidate Ramona Hofmeister also believes in the danger of false positive corona tests at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
"We can simply be taken out of the competition," said the snowboarder, who won bronze in the parallel giant slalom in Pyeongchang in 2018: "If we are pulled out by a supposedly positive test, we're in a fix and can't do anything anymore."
Nevertheless, she does not want to deal too much with the topic in the run-up to the games (February 4th to 20th).
"You have that in the back of your mind, but you almost have to hide it if you decide to fly there," said Hofmeister: "I just hope that the games will be fair and good." Everything except the sporting side is not in her hands.
The 25-year-old Hofmeister is considered a great German snowboard hopeful at the Winter Games.
Most recently, she won the overall World Cup twice, and in 2018 in South Korea she finished third in the parallel giant slalom.
In the past few weeks, DSV Alpine boss Wolfgang Maier, among others, has expressed concerns in various interviews that the active people in Beijing are exposed to “arbitrariness” in the evaluation of the corona tests.
“The floodgates for manipulation are wide open.
You can take out anyone who gets in your way in any way.
We have no protection for the athletes and are almost at random there," said the 60-year-old.
Among other things, Maier complained about the determination of the so-called CT value.
The higher this is, the lower the viral load.
In China, the critical value is 40, which means that the probability of a positive result is higher than in Germany, where the Robert Koch Institute recommends "de-isolation" of people with a value of 30 or more.
For months, Maier has been calling for clear rules to be set as to the CT value from which a corona test is rated as positive or negative.
The International Olympic Committee and the OC are not moving here.
If nothing changes, "the athletes live with the psychological burden every day: I can be out tomorrow," said Maier.
DOSB hopes that the CT value will also be reduced
Bernd Eisenbichler also shared the concerns.
It should now be clarified which values are looked at in the corona tests.
"We must avoid having a positive PCR test at Beijing airport from an athlete who has just boarded a plane with a negative PCR test."
DOSB board member Dirk Schimmelpfennig recently expressed his hope that the CT value at the games (February 4th to 20th) would be reduced to "around 35, around 32".
Corresponding talks with the IOC are taking place.
However, one is bound by the requirements of the Chinese health authorities.
ara/sid
