“That’s complete nonsense”
Lesser rejoins Olympics
2/21/2022 3:03 p.m
Erik Lesser does not regret his participation in the Olympic Winter Games in China. But that’s about the only positive thing the biathlete can report about his trip to Beijing. Above all, Lesser sharply attacks the IOC and its German President.
At the end of the Winter Games in China, biathlete Erik Lesser harshly criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its President Thomas Bach. “I’m just disappointed that Thomas Bach just wipes away critical questions,” Lesser told Deutschlandfunk: “The fact that the Olympic Games are apolitical is complete nonsense.” For example, the IOC remained silent once more when a spokeswoman for the Chinese organizing committee described the internationally circulated reports about “concentration camps” and “forced labor” in Xinjiang as “lies”.
Anyone who has followed the games in Beijing, “the last three weeks, knows very well that the Olympic Games are not apolitical. And I cannot understand at all that one is still chasing a lie. I would have liked one Presidents with a good backbone wished that a few more critical tones were directed towards the Chinese government”.
In the past few weeks, Lesser had repeatedly and emphatically criticized the allocation of the Games to China, the gigantism in Beijing and also the International Olympic Committee with the German boss Bach.
Lesser, who had recently expressed little enthusiasm about the event, does not regret his participation. “Because it gives me the opportunity to report on it afterwards,” said the 33-year-old. So he will be able to say in 50 years: “People, no matter what happened, Beijing was always worse.”
Although the competitions had an Olympic character, “but the human element was completely missing. It was all conjured up out of a test tube,” said Lesser. The strict corona protective measures, protective suits, FFP2 masks and a face shield for many helpers made many things appear “unapproachable”. “China is definitely very happy that Corona exists, then you can blame a lot of things on it. Without Covid, a few trips to tourist attractions might have been possible,” but only what you really wanted to show was made visible.