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Gina Lückenkemper training in the Munich Olympic Stadium
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
The controversy over the right form of top-level sport funding in Germany is coming to a head.
After the athletically disastrous performance of the track and field athletes at the World Championships in Eugene, top sprinter Gina Lückenkemper rejected the criticism and said that German athletes "have to work their asses off to be able to compete against these full professionals".
In her opinion, the current German system is not internationally competitive.
For the two-time high jump Olympic champion Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth, this is "populist nonsense," as she told the "Tagesspiegel".
The 66-year-old does not see the support as too low.
"I don't know what else is supposed to prevent an athlete from completing two training sessions a day and maybe a physiotherapy session like a so-called 'full professional'," she said.
The discussion that Lückenkemper and Nasse-Meyfarth have had been smoldering for a long time.
The calculation that more money also means more medals has not worked out in Germany for a long time.
This is also suggested by an analysis by the Athletes Germany Association, which was presented on Monday.
»Frustration arises in the system that depresses everyone.
And the pressure that we end up shouldering increases.
We want that to change,” write the athletes.
The association calls for a fundamental debate about the social goals of top-class sport.
"Measuring the value of top sporting achievements, as is currently the case only by winning a medal, does not go far enough," criticized Karla Borger, President of Athletes Germany.
Rather, it should be examined to what extent the positive effects of top-class sport on society could be taken into account in the promotion.
The athletes are aiming for a new law
Johannes Herber, Managing Director of Athletes Germany, agrees that new criteria, which include not only sporting success but also social benefits, would make funding more holistic.
"Because other nations also invest massively in top-class sport, some athletes dope or are drilled without regard for losses, it is difficult to keep up in some disciplines," he explained.
Therefore, individual increases in performance and potential for the common good must be given greater consideration.
Ex-decathlete Frank Busemann also criticized the current distribution of funds in the SPIEGEL interview.
Therefore, Athleten Deutschland proposes a new social understanding on the goals of state-sponsored top-class sport.
"At the end of this process, there could be a new social contract - even a sports promotion law - for top-class sport," it said.
Since Monday, the European Athletics Championships have been taking place in Munich as part of the European Championships.
At the same time – that's for sure – there will again be a lot of discussion about sports funding.
kjo/dpa
