“money, money, money, more money”
Lesser tests Olympic freedom of speech
02/02/2022, 11:25 am
The criticism of the Olympic Games in Beijing is great. The athletes are mostly not happy with the choice of the venue. This is illustrated by biathlete Erik Lesser. And does not shy away from clear criticism of the organizers.
Biathlete Erik Lesser is known for his quick wit and sarcastic humor. The 33-year-old will not be banned from speaking, which he is now proving in Beijing in the run-up to the Olympic Games. He criticizes the makers of the billion event via Instagram.
He posted a photo of gloves that are available as Olympic merchandise. The words “Solidarity, Inclusion, Equality, Peace, Respect” are embroidered on them in the colors of the Olympic rings. Using a second photo, Lesser explained how he would put it right – with the words “money, money, money, more money”.
The Winter Games are sharply criticized. It’s a billion-dollar business, many say at the expense of the athletes, and it’s in a country that violates human rights and has no tradition of winter sports – in the midst of the pandemic.
Lesser also finds the construction of the competition venues especially for the games very unpleasant. “It’s really nice out here … But knowing what this area looked like before makes me so sad,” writes the 2015 double world champion in his Instagram story: “All of this for three weeks.” In addition, the Thuringian posted a photo that showed him on the first day of training at the biathlon facility that was specially built for the games in Zhangjiakou.
The new course with a stadium for around 6,000 spectators and a shooting range was built in the snow-poor mountain region in north-west Beijing, without any international prospects for the time after the Olympics. World Cups are not planned in China in the coming years. Before the games, environmentalists had criticized the swank in the construction of the competition venues in the mountainous region.
Questionable freedom of speech
It is not the first time that Lesser has criticized the allocation of the games to China. “We athletes now have to pay for what the IOC couldn’t do,” he told the “Münchner Merkur”: “We’re standing there now and have to justify ourselves for the Olympic Games in a country where human rights are violated. So we have to too give more critical tones from us – which Thomas Bach as IOC President cannot do.”
Now, with his current Instagram story, Lesser is once again testing the limits of freedom of expression. Because China decides what is allowed. Many experts advise the participants not to express themselves critically, especially not about human rights violations. Yang Shu, Vice-Director-General for International Relations of the Organizing Committee, said: “Any statement that conforms to the Olympic spirit will certainly be protected. Any behavior or statements that go against it can be punished with a specific punishment, especially if they violate Chinese laws or rules.” The IOC’s rules also raise questions: “Athletes are expected to respect applicable laws, Olympic values and their competitors when making statements.” However, the DOSB assured its active support.
It is not the first time that Lesser has criticized Instagram and emphasized amateurish image processing. At the beginning of the season, the team clothing of the German team got rid of its fat. This season it’s a mix of violet-blue-grey and yellow-green. For Lesser, this has nothing to do with recognition of the German team. And so he quickly recolored the German flag in a post. Black-red-gold became black-violet-yellow-green. At least there is one problem that Lesser does not have in Beijing: the team clothing is much more similar to the colors of the German flag.