Olympics 2036 in Germany?
Just trust IOC boss Bach, says sports manager Mronz
07/05/2023, 08:55 am
Michael Mronz would have liked to bring the Olympic Games to Germany in 2032. That didn’t work. He continues to cherish the dream. And he also thinks games in 2036 are possible. The anniversary of the Nazi Games in 1936 was “no malus” because IOC President Thomas Bach had a special gift.
Sports manager Michael Mronz considers the 2036 Olympic Games in Germany to be possible in principle, despite the games used by the Nazi regime for propaganda 100 years earlier in Berlin. “Thomas Bach, as the internationally highly recognized IOC President, can read the vibrations very well internationally. He sees no problem for 2036 at the international level. You should trust that,” said Mronz: “Looked at in that way, I don’t think 2036 is a malus .”
But it is important “to have talks with the Jewish community at an early stage and to involve them in the planning,” said Mronz, who headed the private-sector Olympics initiative in the Rhine and Ruhr region for 2032. “The 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games could be an opportunity to present a Germany that is cosmopolitan, that is welcoming, that is sustainable,” he said. Even 100 years after the games of 1936, that doesn’t have to happen demonstratively. “Germany doesn’t have to pretend at all. We just have to be natural and authentic and present ourselves as we are.”
The finals as a test run for the region
Basically, the decision about a possible German application is currently with the German Olympic Sports Confederation. Applications for games between 2034 and 2040 are possible. Whether the Rhine/Ruhr region will be an applicant is an open question. However, there is a fundamental interest. No city or region can currently boast the desired 100 percent existing sports facilities, said Mronz. In North Rhine-Westphalia, however, it is 95 percent.
“I am very confident that the DOSB will find a good solution and develop a convincing roadmap,” he said: “It is important that this is not only seen as promising in Germany, but also internationally. The worm has to go to the fish taste, not the angler.”
The multi-sport event finals, which will be held this weekend in 18 sports mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia, is not a test run. “Each event has its own identification and is never a test run for something else,” said Mronz: “The finals have their own signature. They are just like the European Championships a great sport format. The Rhine/Ruhr region naturally offers events of this kind ideal opportunities.”