Competitions in danger
“Serious”: German athletics sounds the alarm
December 20, 2024 – 2:50 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
German athletics performed worse in Paris than in Tokyo. This has consequences for financing. The association is raging.
The planned cuts in federal funding hit the German Athletics Association (DLV) hard – the association is therefore sounding the alarm, warning of “serious” effects on the medal chances for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Between 2022 and 2024, the DLV received over 10.6 million euros annually from the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). From 2025, the amount is to be reduced by around one million euros. The reason for the cuts is the controversial potential analysis system (Potas), which is used to distribute the money. Athletics performed worse than after the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo.
The financial cuts are forcing athletes and coaching teams to make changes. “Courses and competitions must be canceled,” says the DLV statement. This not only affects the immediate preparation for competitions, but also endangers the development of young talent.
The DLV primarily blames the Potas system for the funding cuts. “Style thinking, excessive bureaucracy and a lack of sport-specific competence are paralyzing the top sports associations,” criticized the association. These restrictions are particularly problematic in training-intensive phases.
The fact that even athletes like the Olympic shot put champion Yemisi Ogunleye and the 4×100 meter women’s relay team, which won bronze in Paris 2024, are classified as having little potential illustrates the system’s misjudgments. Under the current financial conditions, federally financed courses in this area are “hardly possible anymore,” explained the DLV.
The DLV is not the only association that has to accept cuts. The German Volleyball Association (DVV) also complained about massive cuts and threatened “radical steps”. Meanwhile, other disciplines such as gymnastics, basketball and rowing benefit from the planned redistributions. However, the BMI emphasized that these are preliminary figures and could still change.