The head of the delegation of the German Olympic team in Beijing does not want to “overestimate” the lead in the medal table at halftime of the Winter Games. Although President Thomas Weikert and Head of Mission Dirk Schimmelpfennig looked back on “successful days” on Saturday, a conclusion could only be drawn after the closing ceremony on February 20th.
In addition, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) not only evaluates the victories, “but also the number of medals and places one to eight. And we’re not in first place there,” said Schimmelpfennig, responsible for competitive sports on the board of the umbrella organization. Halfway through the competitions, the German team had won seven gold medals.
In his interim conclusion at his first winter games, Weikert recalled the clubs at home who were “fighting for survival” in the corona pandemic. “They lost members, the halls are closed, they can’t offer any sport,” he said. All the more important is the cohesion between top and popular sports and also politics. Weikert was therefore “particularly pleased” to talk to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who spoke to the athletes.
The lawyer from Limburg had a dig at the head of Alfons Hörmann’s predecessor. In the talks about improving the conditions for the athletes in quarantine, he and his Vice President Miriam Welte heard: “You are back on the international stage. You can talk to you again.” That had been neglected in the past, said Weikert, who has headed the DOSB since December.
The “mental stress” of the two Nordic combined athletes Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber as well as the figure skater Nolan Seegert in isolation is “part of the balance sheet”, said Schimmelpfennig: “We can only help to a limited extent.” Unlike the general conditions. “With the greatest effort” the DOSB brought about improvements with the organizers. Seegert was also allowed to leave the quarantine again.
Schimmelpfennig is impressed by how many athletes “managed to go into the competitions very well prepared and extremely focused, despite the limitations and stress that we had beforehand”. He particularly highlighted biathlon Olympic champion Denise Herrmann and the medal winners of the Bobsleigh and Sled Association for Germany (BSD). “The dominance in the ice channel” is not “taken for granted”.