Shortly after the election of Munich as the national Olympic candidate, German sport has to look for a new chief official. With emotional words, Thomas Weikert declared that he would not run again for the office of President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.
“I feel that I can no longer muster the strength to dedicate myself to the tasks of a president at full speed for another four years - and the DOSB would have deserved nothing less,” wrote the 64-year-old in a letter on the umbrella organization's website.
Two months before the vote at the DOSB general meeting in Frankfurt am Main, the race for the top post has finally begun. IOC member Michael Mronz is considered the favorite to succeed Weikert, but he is not without controversy in sport. The name of Martin Engelhardt, President of the German Triathlon Union, is also mentioned.
"Incidentally, I will not comment on relevant personnel discussions today, nor before or after the election - with the caveat that I am convinced that the DOSB will continue to be in very good hands," Weikert said.
Breakdown causes a stir
The outgoing DOSB boss revealed that he was unable to estimate in advance the amount of work involved in the office. “I found the burden to be enormous and I can’t expect it to last another four years, also considering my family,” explained Weikert.
There had recently been growing resistance to Weikert in the state sports associations and leading associations. This did not play a role in his decision, he assured. Weikert recently caused a stir with a breakdown. At the national Olympic competition on Saturday in Baden-Baden, he clumsily held the open winner's envelope when handing it over to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier so that the name of the winner Munich could be read before the announcement.
At the top of German sport for almost five years
The former table tennis world president has been the successor to Alfons Hörmann at the head of the umbrella organization, whose affiliated organizations have more than 29 million members, since December 2021. Weikert defeated former fencer Claudia Bokel in early elections five years ago. A year later, Weikert stood for re-election for a four-year term - he was confirmed in office without any opposing candidates.
It is still officially unknown who would like to be Weikert's successor. A search committee set up by German sports is supposed to filter out possible candidates. DOSB member organizations can submit proposals. The application deadline ends on October 30th.
Sports official Mronz with ambitions?
The DOSB executive committee member Mronz answered questions about his ambitions evasively a few days ago in the ZDF “Sportstudio”. «I think the first question is how Thomas Weikert decides and then the search committee will conduct the discussions and come to a result. “We’ll see what their suggestion is,” the 59-year-old said.
Mronz brings experience in top sports as managing director of Aachener Reitturnier GmbH. In this role, he increased the reputation of the major equestrian event CHIO. He was also a co-founder of the Rhine-Ruhr Initiative, which sought to apply for the 2032 Olympic Games. But nothing came of this because the International Olympic Committee decided on Brisbane, Australia, as the preferred candidate earlier than expected.
Precisely because of this proximity to the Olympic plans in North Rhine-Westphalia, Mronz's role is viewed critically by some top sports representatives. In the coming months and years, Mronz should advance Munich's candidacy for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Games at the International Olympic Committee.
Triathlon boss Engelhardt, who has long been a critical figure in German sport, is mentioned as a possible alternative to Mronz. The 66-year-old had already run for the position of DOSB chief in 2018, but was clearly defeated by Hörmann at the time.
