Thursday, December 23, 2021
Olympia, commerce, emotions
Neureuther is “very worried”
Felix Neureuther worries. A lot. Shortly before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, the former ski racer denounced a decline in values and the loss of the Olympic spirit. Neureuther is sharply attacking China and the IOC – and believes that the games will no longer inspire.
Shortly before the winter games in Beijing, the former ski racer Felix Neureuther denounced a decline in values in connection with the Olympic Games and sharply criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Neureuther said in a podcast on ARD “Sportschau” that he was “very worried” about the Olympic idea, which had brought many people to sport in the past few decades and triggered great emotions. He fears that many people will not be able to enjoy the games as enthusiastically in the future as in the past. “They won’t make it.”
The 37-year-old criticized that the focus has long since ceased to be on the traditional Olympic idea and sport, but only on commerce and other “background noises”. Proof of this is also the fact that the games are awarded to dictatorships such as China. A crucial question is how the IOC will manage to be socially recognized as credible again. “So much has gone wrong in the past 20 years that, in my opinion, it is impossible to regain this credibility.”
Boycott and threats
The Winter Olympics begin in Beijing in February. China is also criticized for human rights violations in its dealings with Uyghurs and Tibetans, for suppressing the democracy movement in Hong Kong, and for threats against Taiwan. Several countries, including the USA, Australia, Great Britain and Canada, recently announced that they would not send diplomatic or official representatives to the Games in China.
Countries “will inevitably pay the price for their wrongdoing,” said Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. He denounced the “use of the Olympic platform for political manipulation”. For months now, activists and human rights activists have been calling on western democracies like Germany to boycott the sporting event as such and not to send athletes. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is counting on a common European approach to the question of a possible diplomatic boycott of the Games. “We will decide together in the new federal government how we will deal with it further, but in accordance with our European friends,” said the Green politician recently.