"That's what Hitler did too" - Speed ​​skating star criticizes "terrible" China Olympics

Created: 02/18/2022 11:29 am

By: Marco Blanco-Ucles

Harsh criticism of Olympic host country China: speed skater Nils van der Poel © Xinhua/Imago

After his return home, speed skating star Nils van der Poel caused a stir with an interview.

In it, the athlete criticizes host China - and draws parallels to the Third Reich.

Beijing - The criticism of China as the host country of the Winter Olympics was great in advance.

However, most athletes held back.

Now that the games are drawing to a close, that's changing - at least for speed skating star Nils van der Poel.

After his return home, the Swede caused quite a stir with an interview.

No other athlete had previously expressed such criticism of China.

Olympics 2022 in Beijing: Nils Van der Poel draws a comparison to the 1936 Nazi Games in Berlin

In an interview with "Sportbladet", the Olympic champion over 5,000 and 10,000 meters compared the major event in China to the Olympic Games of 1936, which were shaped by National Socialism: "The Olympic Games are great, they are a fantastic sporting event because they unite the world and because the nations meet.

But so did Hitler before he invaded Poland, and so did Russia before invading Ukraine.” Tough stuff!

Van der Poel also explains the daring comparison: "I think it's extremely irresponsible to give the games to a country that violates human rights as blatantly as the Chinese regime does." The 25-year-old is playing on the oppression of Uyghurs and Tibetans in China.

It was awful

Nils van der Poel

Van der Poel deliberately chose the timing of his criticism: "I don't know if it would have been wise to criticize China beforehand if I have to go there first." Even if the Chinese he met were "absolutely fantastic". Having been there, he makes a clear judgment about his time at the games: "It was terrible." Van der Poel also states that he can say more, but refrains from doing so (for the time being) for a specific reason: "After all, we still have part of the team there." (mbu)