Today Sven Baumgarten from Arnstadt in Thuringia is responsible for the “dual career” of top athletes at the German Olympic Sports Confederation, i.e. coordinating their training and studies. Looking back at the summer of 1990 is something of a journey through time for him. He weighs his head thoughtfully and thinks of the enormous workload that he then managed as head of the competitive sports department in the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the last GDR government. And the missed opportunities. In the dynamic of the events up to “Unity Day” on October 3, it was unfortunately impossible to “calmly describe the strengths and weaknesses of the respective sports system” in East and West and to draw conclusions for the future as a whole. “There was simply no time for that,” recalls the graduate of the German University for Physical Culture (DHfK) in Leipzig. Non-party, politically unencumbered and professionally trained, the then 30 year was …
