National hockey player Timur Oruz sees “no chance for a German Olympic bid in the next two or three years if we ask the population for approval”.
Many people wouldn’t even know “what an attraction Olympic sports have because they are not visible on TV,” said Oruz, who came third in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, at the SID MixedZone event “50 Years Munich ’72” in Cologne.
In principle, he was always in favor of discussing in society, as the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) intends to do on the way to a possible application, “but one would probably have to force the population to be happy.” As an example, he cited the successful European Championships in Munich, which without a referendum were “a great step” “to advertise sports outside of football”.
Beach volleyball Olympic champion Julius Brink agreed that sport in Germany plays too small a role for him.
“How should a society in which sport is completely underrepresented answer the question of whether there should be an Olympic Games in Germany? The answer can only be: No. But my answer as to whether we need the Olympic Games is: Yes !” However, under different “framework conditions” than many previous editions.
Criticism of the gigantism of the Olympic Games or the lack of sustainability of the sports facilities is of secondary importance to Oruz. “This gigantism also exists in football, it’s okay there,” said Oruz and, looking back at the Munich Summer Games 50 years ago, regretted: “In 1972 there was a platform for other sports that no longer exists today.” He therefore sees the possible Olympic application as “a mammoth social task”.