"The question is how to approach the Olympics": DOSB President on the application dream

Created: 08/20/2022, 12:10 p.m

By: Nico-Marius Schmitz

DOSB President Thomas Weikert talks about the Olympics in an interview.

© Lennart Preiss

DOSB President Thomas Weikert on a possible application, the European Championship and popular sport.

The European Championships make you want to go to the Olympics.

Munich – Thomas Weikert has been President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation for eight months.

Weikert took over the association with its around 27 million members in a difficult situation, after predecessor Alfons Hörmann still spoke of a "culture of fear".

As part of the European Championships, Weikert took the time for an interview with our newspaper.

The 60-year-old explains why he puts the brakes on his euphoria when it comes to applying for the Olympics, whether athletes can look forward to better funding in Germany and how he supports mass sport.

Thomas Weikert, how have you perceived the European Championships so far?

I was here privately on Monday evening and took a look at everything in the Olympic Park.

I'm really excited: a lot of people, good weather, a great atmosphere and sport as a big part.

I ate a bratwurst and played table tennis, here there are opportunities to join in everywhere.

What about your skills on the plate, how many balls from Timo Boll would you be able to return?

I play Verbandsliga, that's sixth grade.

I've often played a few balls against Timo.

It won't be easy with his serves, but I'll get a few back somehow (laughs).

At the European Athletics Championships there was a goose bumps evening with Niklas Kaul and Gina Lückenkemper.

You should take this euphoria with you - keyword Olympic application.

Why are you stepping on the brakes?

I remembered the night Mo Farah won gold in the 10,000m at the London 2012 Olympics.

People stood there the whole time, I had to think of that immediately.

The Executive Committee and I are stepping on the brakes on euphoria because we want to approach the issue differently than was done before.

It used to be that a location was chosen, then voted on, and the votes were lost.

In December we will present a process to the general meeting of how the path to a new application could look like.

We want to clarify the why before the when, where and how and not present anyone with a fait accompli.

The question is also how to go about the Olympics in concrete terms.

Summer or winter, in a place like Munich or, for example, in the whole of Bavaria?

Or all of Germany?

We have lots of ideas

So the experiences in Munich have also made you want to go to the Olympics in Germany?

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I cannot understand anyone who says that it reduces the desire for a major event in Germany.

If you don't get carried away as a sports fan here, you can't be helped anymore.

But on Tuesday you saw that the whole arena was standing.

And not only with Niklas Kaul, but also when no German athletes were at the start.

This should also be very important when applying.

We not only cheer on Germans, but all athletes.

You couldn't live the Olympic heritage in Munich better than with the European Championships, could you?

That is absolutely correct.

As I said, I was here privately on Monday.

And that gave you a very good impression of what it might look like if an application were successful.

The infrastructure would be there in Munich.

In the event of an application, the DOSB will clearly want to focus on sustainable games?

Otherwise we don't even need to start with an application.

Los Angeles advertises that 100 percent of the sports facilities are already there and only need to be modernized.

We have to think about how sustainability and environmental protection can be secured.

There has also been a rethink at the IOC.

You can see that in the last awards.

It was understood that when completely new stadiums are built, the criticism will be very loud.

And you can't host the Olympic Games against the population.

I call Thomas Bach regularly, not about an Olympic application, but the contact is very good.

And I feel like Thomas Bach knows full well that gigantism is over, and that's the right direction.

So Mr. Bach hasn't texted you yet, calling for the games to be brought to Germany?

He will refrain from doing that (laughs).

But at least he said in an interview that he could well imagine games taking place in Germany again.

After the World Cup in Eugene, the promotion of sports in Germany was again heavily criticized.

One has the feeling that there is always a lot of talk about it, little is changing.

Why has the DOSB also overslept the topic in recent years?

I can't speak for the last few years, I've been in office for eight months.

We in the Presidium work very hard to ensure that the support for athletes is good and that the athletes are involved.

We have improved our relationship with the Athleten Deutschland association and have established good contacts.

We know that if we want to make a difference, we have to pull together and not work against each other.

There will certainly be different opinions again, but that's life, and that can also be productive.

We have to think carefully about which points we can start with in order to further improve funding in the future?

Our sports director Dirk Schimmelpfennig is working on that and I think reasonable results will be achieved.

So you also agree that the current system is not internationally competitive?

You cant say it like that.

There are areas where we need to get better.

Of course we also look at other countries, the Netherlands or Great Britain for example.

But it is always difficult to compare systems one-to-one.

We have to analyze whether and how we can take the good with us.

There are many athletes who are not supported financially by the Bundeswehr, for example, and still go to work alongside their sport.

Or pay for their training camps themselves and therefore not fly on vacation.

You will not see a Duplantis working alongside sport.

Can you promise the athletes that the support will be better?

I can't promise them that they'll be paid like Duplantis (laughs).

But I can promise you that we will work on this point, which is not good yet, and hope that there will be a financial improvement there.

And also in the environment, such as the trainers and sports facilities.

The budget holders of the German Bundestag have released 500 million for the renovation of swimming pools and sports facilities, where many things are in a mess.

That's probably far too little.

But it is a first step in the right direction that the new federal government is taking care of it.

For the future, we have achieved that our way of thinking is also noticed there and that everyone in the Federal Ministry of the Interior knows that the funding still needs to be expanded.

During the first lockdown, mass sport also had to suffer for a long time.

Now with the background of the energy crisis, there is talk again about the closure of sports facilities.

Haven't politicians realized how important sport is?

At the conference of sports ministers, we were unanimously of the opinion that we had to take countermeasures.

The swimming pools must remain open, the halls must remain open.

I work at a lower level in a sports circle in Limburg.

It drives me crazy when people suddenly say without warning that Hall XY is closed.

We have to work on that.

At the regional level, I also take care of it and talk to the mayors and district administrators.

You can take other measures first, for example lowering the hall temperature or the water temperature.

But those responsible in the municipalities must be aware of what they are doing when they close the sports halls.

We are working hard to change the way of thinking there.

The value of the sport should be clear.

Is the sport apolitical?

The question is idle, he will never be apolitical.

Sport and politics are connected, mutually dependent and can stimulate each other.

That means, should it happen again that the Olympic Games are awarded to Russia or China, would you take a clear position against it in advance?

We position ourselves against it when there are countries in which international standards such as general human rights are not observed.

We have also articulated this in relation to China and will continue to do so.

And in the IOC, too, an attitude can be seen in the recent awards to Paris, Milan and Brisbane.

Nobody knows how long the war in Ukraine will last.

Are you still in favor of banning Russian and Belarusian athletes?

At the moment, that is the opinion of the entire Presidency and Board of Directors.

After the collapse of civilization caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, organized sport sent out the clear message that we cannot go about business as usual in sport either.

But of course we are discussing how and when we can bring the expelled athletes back into the sporting community.

You took over the federation in difficult times.

There was talk of a “culture of fear”, there were anonymous emails and threatening letters.

How much fear still buzzes through the corridors of the DOSB?

I haven't felt any fear yet...

Maybe not you, but the staff.

My impression is that there is no fear there, only respect.

I think we get along well with each other.

That was also the first task when we, the members of the executive committee, contacted the employees.

I held a video conference with all employees two days after my election.

Confidence in the Presidium was gone.

You can't build that up straight away, you can earn it.

After the election you said that although you often wear suits, you still want to think in jerseys.

How well did you do that?

Others have to judge that.

But I believe that we talk to everyone and take all concerns and needs seriously.

Whether we always solved all our worries, I can't say.

But I don't think there's anyone who approached us that we didn't talk to.

That was the jersey and that will be retained.

Does that mean you will run again?

That is my goal.

What are you looking forward to with Sportdeutschland?

If I were elected, I look forward to the other projects we have.

That we eliminate the consequences of Corona, that we can get more people interested in sport again, that we have a healthy financial basis.

In the medium term we want to bring many more sporting events to Germany – from small to large.

Interview: Nico Marius Schmitz