A fool who makes fun of a sport that takes too long for him because his sports buddy invites him for a cup of tea in between. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is thinking globally, about the next untapped market, India. And so cricket will make it back to the Olympic program after 128 years in Los Angeles in 2028.
A gift to the Indians, as the former mayor of the Californian metropolis, now America’s ambassador to India, asserts. May the subcontinent discover the Olympics in the spirit of the IOC and soon be ready for the greatest sporting spectacle.
A gift? Yes, that’s how it is in world sport. Those who are to be lured are given the feeling of home so that they dare to take on the adventure of Olympia, which seems increasingly foreign to many. Cricket moves the Indians like kicking moves the Germans. What does this have to do with Germany’s Olympic chances? Patience. It has become an Olympic discipline in this country, 51 years after the last appearance of the world’s youth in Munich in 72.
Small gifts
It feels like the Germans always raise their fingers when it comes to the award, but then they get beaten in the competition or by their own people, most recently the people of Hamburg, who politely declined in 2015. So far, it was said that it was because of the money. Nobody wanted to pay the bill. But was that so? Isn’t it the little touches that melt hearts of stone and set big things in motion?
The German Olympic Sports Confederation is currently trying to spark a new German-Olympic love affair with a sophisticated popular enthusiasm campaign, while India, which understands Russia, and Qatar, which understands Hamas, are looming on the horizon as candidates who will not do one thing on the way to the 2036 Olympics : ask their population for consent. How could democracy be slowed down? Not with cricket. But if it is true that IOC boss Thomas Bach wants to get the majority of his compatriots excited about the Summer Games at home, then emissaries should think about small gifts.
Christoph Becker, Anno Hecker and Michael Reinsch Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 7 A comment from Christoph Becker Published/Updated: Recommendations: 53 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
Whether Qatar or India, whoever wins the 2036 Olympics, he could amaze the Germans with a quintessentially German sport in the program of his games: after sack races and tobacco spitting in 1904, it would be time for the Olympic walking day, which was always the miller’s desire. Or alternatively for the Olympic premiere of Reichspatent 387569 by furniture manufacturer Carl Mayer, a game that even captivated Uli Hoeneß: Tipp-Kick.
