After Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Thomas de Maiziere, Federal Minister of the Interior, has also been admitted to the Olympic Team Germany. The 64-year-old received a “Team D”medal during his visit to the German House on Tuesday. He had already received the official team jacket on Monday when he arrived.
“Over the past few years, you have contributed in many ways to our standing as Team D where we are now,”said Alfons Hörmann, President of the DOSB. Whoever follows de Maiziere (CDU) as minister responsible for sport is not yet official after the conclusion of the coalition negotiations. Horst Seehofer (CSU) is the most promising candidate.
De Maiziere had already experienced the German successes in biathlon (gold for Laura Dahlmeier, bronze for Benedikt Doll) and ski jumping (silver for Katharina Althaus) on Monday,”That was great after my arrival,”said de Maiziere. On Tuesday he had “rather held indoor talks”, among others with IOC President Thomas Bach, WADA CEO Craig Reedie and Hörmann.
In Germany, the Minister of the Interior reported that the “spark” of the games has long since leaped over, not least because the competitions are not broadcast on the German night, but mostly in the morning:”Laura Dahlmeier’s radiant laughter has confirmed this.
Steinmeier paid a visit to the German team over the past weekend and acclaimed the gold triumphs of Dahlmeier and Andreas Wellinger (ski jumping). Almost two years ago, the high politics “Team D” in Rio de Janeiro had shown the cold shoulder, at that time the grumbling about lack of support from Berlin had been great.