Its last attempts ended in failure, but Germany is still thinking about the Olympic Games. She thinks about it big. With broad ideas.
Meeting this week in Frankfurt, the general assembly of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) voted unanimously in favor of a proposed bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nothing very unexpected. The idea has been in the air for a long time. But today it takes on a slightly more official dimension, with the signing by the German sports movement of a “Frankfurt declaration” on Olympic ambition.
Thomas Weikert, the president of the DOSB (former president of the International Table Tennis Federation), explained this to the television channel ZDF : Germany will not give up. “ The DOSB wishes today to clearly state, with great unity and great confidence, that we are heading towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games, did he declare. Whether it's the Summer Games or the Winter Games, in 2036 or 2040, we will not go back. We will have to do what we ask of our athletes: be ambitious, pursue a big goal, work hard and win in the end. We need to show our athletes that we support them, that we want to give them home-field advantage so they can be even more successful. »
Well said. But one question remains, and it is important: where and when. At this stage of its reflection, the German Olympic movement does not wish to respond. Germany is not ruling out any option: winter in 2038 (if Switzerland is ultimately not selected) or in 2042, summer in 2036 or 2040. It also refuses to already target one or more candidate cities .
Thomas Weikert explained it this week: “ We started the process very differently than in recent years. The focus is not on where and how, but rather on why we want to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Germany. »
Scalded by the latest failures in Munich for the Winter Games in 2018, then Hamburg for the summer in 2024, Germany wants to take its time. Develop a concept, strengthen your argument, before putting a name and a date on your project.
Thomas Weikert clarified: a decision as to the host city, or region, should be announced by next summer. Like the North Rhine-Westphalia region's project for the 2032 Summer Games, the DOSB could favor a candidacy submitted by several cities.
At the same time, the DOSB will have to convince the political authorities to support the project. Not won in advance. A government representative, present this week at the body's general assembly, assured it of support for " a strong and credible Olympic candidacy”, but without really going into the nature of the support.
With just under thirteen years to go, the race for the Summer Games in 2036 already has a large number of applicants, both declared and potential. With India, Indonesia, Qatar, Mexico, Poland, Korea, Germany, Mexico and Hungary, it promises to be the most universal of the century.
