The competitors Munich and Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr no longer reacted much to the announced withdrawal of the Olympics from Berlin. Because: Whoever receives the national award for an application in 2036, 2040 or 2044 at the extraordinary DOSB general meeting on Saturday (1.45 p.m. / ARD and ARD live stream) in Baden-Baden has no longer been a real three-way battle for a long time, but just a duel between South and West.
The lack of a citizens' referendum in Berlin, which, however, took place in Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia with a large majority in favor of the Olympics, had a negative impact on the chances, as did the unclear political situation. In the House of Representatives election, the black-red Senate, which had pushed forward the Olympic plans, was only voted out this Sunday. Election winner Elif Eralp (Left), who could become the new mayor, is an opponent of the Olympics and articulated this clearly.
It is not the first unsuccessful application project in the capital; Berlin is even looking at an Olympic triple failure. An overview:
1993
In September 1993 everything was arranged: More than 60,000 people came to the Brandenburg Gate and waited for the award for the 2000 Olympic Games in their city, and tennis icon Steffi Graf campaigned for Berlin at the award ceremony in Monaco. But that wasn't enough, the German capital came away empty-handed. Berlin only received nine of the 88 votes and was eliminated in round two. The Olympics went to Sydney, and Beijing and Manchester were also more successful in the vote than the German applicant.
“The IOC did not have the impression that the city really wanted the Games,” said Thomas Bach, who, as an IOC member, accompanied the Berlin delegation in Monaco. "If an IOC member visited Berlin, a security officer had to be assigned to him."
As is the case today, a NOlympia movement was formed after the bid in 1991, which, in addition to actions in the capital, also created a mood in Monaco before the award was made. A video that ended with a punk armed with a paving stone and the words "We will wait for you" raised questions about how IOC members are being protected by security officials in the capital.
2015
Eleven and a half years ago, the capital, which once again had international appeal this year, came away empty-handed in the German elimination. Back then, Berlin didn't lose against Munich or Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr, but against Hamburg. At that time, there was “a majority decision and a unanimous positioning” for the Hanseatic city in the presidium, as the DOSB under the leadership of Alfons Hörmann put it at the time.
The problem: Although the DOSB chose Hamburg as the German candidate in March, the referendum in November of the same year was lost with only 48.4 percent approval. Hamburg withdrew its application and the Summer Games went to Paris.
2026
Third attempt - and again nothing: In the past few days, the attacks on Berlin's application have come in a concentrated amount. The left's clear election victory and Eralp's statements ("decision made") increased the doubts and the risk that Germany would have taken by applying for its capital.
On Tuesday evening, the DOSB evaluation commission also published its final report: While Munich (87 out of 100 points) and Cologne (85) landed in the very good category, Berlin did not get above 74.6 points. Although voters in Baden-Baden are not bound by the report, the numbers clearly expressed what had been apparent for weeks: Berlin, things are looking bad.
Berlin's Olympic representative Kaweh Niroomand accused election winner Eralp of "wiping the entire application off the table within 45 seconds, thereby causing enormous uncertainty among the associations and thereby absolutely reducing our chances."
On Wednesday, Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), Sports Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) and Niroomand met and made the decision. The end is to be announced at a press conference this Thursday (10 a.m.). Olympics in Berlin? This should be done for a long time.
