As of: February 25, 2024, 7:39 p.m
By: Niklas Kirk
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During an appearance on Bavarian Radio, Felix Neureuther talks about sustainability, the Olympics in Saudi Arabia and a new film project.
Munich – Hannes Ringlstetter and Carolin Matzko welcomed prominent visitors to their format
Ringlstetter
last week .
Of course, the hosts also discussed current questions about winter sports with ex-ski racer Felix Neureuther.
The 39-year-old took a clear stance on possible venues for the Winter Olympics, sustainability and gave insights into a film project.
Olympics in a desert climate?
Neureuther sees the future of games somewhere else
For Neureuter, who cares about environmental protection, the responsibility of sport is non-negotiable.
He emphasizes much more: “As a ski sport, we have to manage to take a pioneering position, also when it comes to the issue of sustainability.” He cites the 2026 Winter Games as a laudatory example.
There are already “great opportunities and projects that are already being implemented,” such as the reactivation of old sports facilities.
However, he doesn't believe in relocating the Winter Games to regions without a winter climate: “Does it make sense to talk about the Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia?
Or about the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where a new location needs to be built?”
Here Neureuther refers to Saudi Arabia as a possible venue for the 2030 Games. The country has already been awarded the contract for the 2029 Asian Games, for which the planned city “Neom” is to be built.
Former ski star Felix Neureuther relies on sustainable methods for winter sports.
© Imago / Sven Simon
Neureuther about abandoned sports facilities in the Alps: “That couldn’t be the case!”
For him, the heart of the games and winter sports beats in the Alps, also because he sees the conditions here to hold any competition in an environmentally friendly way.
His film project, which will be broadcast on February 26th, also deals with this question.
“How can we design the games so that they take place in harmony with the local people and with nature?
It is possible,” emphasized the 39-year-old.
To do this, Neureuther went to the Alpine region to take stock of the sports infrastructure and the resulting opportunities.
His conclusion: “And then you look at what sports facilities are left from the games in Italy.
Then we visited the ski jump and the bobsleigh track.
Then I thought to myself: 'That couldn't be the case!'
It was built for so much money and hasn’t been used for 15 years.”
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Neureuther on the Olympics in times of climate change: “implement it sensibly and in a contemporary manner”
Finally, he clearly rejects the logic of always having to open up new markets for the games.
The Olympics are “a great movement” but must be “implemented sensibly and in a contemporary manner”.
This is also in the interests of the athletes: “If you ask the athletes what they prefer: Do they want to have the Olympic Games in front of 500 people in South Korea or Beijing, where everything is built out of the ground, where everything is pompous?
Or would you rather start somewhere where there are 30,000, 40,000 people at the start?”
Recently, athletes have increasingly been commenting on the sustainability of their competitions.
Julian Schütter made the organizers responsible for choosing companies that promote environmental protection when choosing advertising partners.
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