Olympia 2026: Glööckler Criticizes German Olympic Style

The Winter Olympics will take place in Milan and Corina d’Ampezzo from February 6th to 22nd. Around 2,900 athletes from 90 nations are fighting for medals in 116 competitions. Stay up to date on everything worth knowing about the Olympics with the WELT live ticker:

8.49 a.m. Stützle travels to Milan as the match winner

National ice hockey player Tim Stützle arrives with a sense of achievement. The 24-year-old shot the Ottawa Senators to victory in the NHL in the last game before leaving for Italy. Stützle scored the decisive 2-1 win in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers, giving his team its fifth win from the last six games.

8.05 a.m.: Glööckler’s harsh judgment on the German look

Fashion designer Harald Glööckler considers the clothing of the German Olympic team to be a failure. “I would like to say I’m horrified. But unfortunately that’s not the case, because it’s so boring that no emotions arise and you don’t want to deal with it any further,” said Glööckler. He is really open to new things. “But what’s on offer here is neither innovative nor refreshingly new – let alone appealing.”

Germans are often said to have no sense of style. They also lack the elegance and casualness with which Italians, for example, dress, said Glööckler. “But the fact that you still have to prove that with a collection that you can compete with on an international stage is a completely different matter. Unfortunately, I get zero points for that.”

Outfitter Adidas developed the approximately 70-piece collection in close collaboration with the athletes.

7:34 a.m.: Riesch warns Lindsey Vonn

Olympic champion Maria Riesch warned Lindsey Vonn about the risk of starting after her cruciate ligament tear. “It’s a ride on a knife’s edge what she’s putting herself through in Cortina,” Riesch told the “Rheinische Post”. Vonn is in great shape, says he has no pain and has a good sense of stability and good muscles. “But the cruciate ligament in the left knee tore in an extreme situation. That’s very risky,” said Riesch.

Last Friday, 41-year-old Vonn fell violently in the last World Cup downhill before the games in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and rushed into a safety net. According to her own statements, she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and bruised bones. She is still confident about the departure on Sunday (11.30 a.m.). She also didn’t rule out starting in the Super-G and in the team combination.

9.20 p.m.: Two falls – German snowboarder fails in qualification

Freestyle snowboarder Noah Vicktor clearly missed out on making it to the big air final at his second Olympic Games. The 24-year-old crashed on his first two attempts in qualifying.

At his first Winter Games in Beijing in 2022, Vicktor was also unable to qualify for the final in 24th place. Vicktor will also be taking part in its specialty slopestyle discipline at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina. The qualification takes place on February 16th.

6.44 p.m.: Italy wins at the inauguration

The new ice hockey hall in Milan survived its premiere well: Italy’s ice hockey women won the opening game against France with a clear score of 4:1 (1:1, 1:0, 2:0). The game in front of almost 9,400 spectators in the not yet fully completed Arena Santa Giulia went off without complications. Craftsmen were still at work behind the scenes. The construction of the ultra-modern hall was significantly delayed. There have also recently been concerns about a hole in the ice. On Thursday, however, everything held. The technology also worked.

3:20 p.m.: Qatar special forces in Cortina

A group of police and special forces from Qatar patrolled the center of Cortina together with an Italian carabiniere. The men belong to Lekhwiya, Qatar’s internal security forces. Lekhwiya is an armed unit reporting directly to the Emir. They are part of a total of 6,000 security forces deployed at the games. Read the whole story here:

2:28 p.m.: German ice hockey women’s start fails

Germany’s ice hockey women started the tournament with a defeat. The team lost against Sweden 1:4 (1:1, 0:2, 0:1). Germany took the lead in the first third through Katarina Jobst-Smith, but with the equalizer after just under twelve minutes, the Swedes got into the game better and had significantly more shots on goal. In the end the result was deserved. The Germans’ other group opponents: Japan (Saturday, 12:10 p.m.) and France (Monday, 4:40 p.m.) and Italy (Tuesday, 4:40 p.m.)

2:20 p.m.: Ice hockey game postponed after virus outbreak

After a norovirus outbreak in the Finnish national ice hockey team, the women’s opening game has been postponed by a week. Instead of today at 9:10 p.m., the match against the Canadians will not take place until next Thursday in Milan. The teams agreed on this with the organizers.

In training on Thursday, Finland only had a total of ten players available – including two goalkeepers. According to a spokeswoman, the remaining 13 players were in quarantine or isolation on Thursday afternoon. According to the regulations, 17 players are required for a regular event.

1:55 p.m.: The biathlon mixed relay team is lined up

The biathlon competitions start on Sunday with the mixed relay. Germany’s positioning is now becoming apparent. According to information from “Bild”, it is certain that Franziska Preuß, Vanessa Voigt and Philipp Nawrath will start. The favorite for second place among men is Philipp Horn. The line-up would therefore also correspond to the ranking in the overall World Cup rankings for men and women for the current season. Germany is one of the medal candidates.

1:28 p.m.: Stolen equipment turned up

The Norwegian ski jumping team’s stolen equipment has resurfaced. On Wednesday, a package containing several ski jumping helmets, ski goggles and ski jackets arrived at the Willingen Ski Club. According to the police, one of the two suspects, who had previously reported to the police and the Norwegian team, apparently sent the package. It is not yet clear whether all of the items were stolen. According to the police, the equipment will be “handed over to the Norwegian team in a timely manner”. The items were stolen from the storage room on the night of Saturday to Sunday.

12.15 p.m.: DOSB boss defends flag bearer election

DOSB boss Thomas Weikert believes the choice of ice hockey superstar Leon Draisaitl as the German flag bearer was a good decision despite his lack of Olympic experience. “The audience saw it that way, the athletes saw it that way,” said the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. NHL professional Draisaitl has never been to the Olympics.

“Of course it’s an award if you’ve been there for a long time. But it’s also an award if you’re a superstar in the USA that half the world is watching, and it’s an honor when such a superstar carries the flag on our team,” said Weikert. Among the male candidates, Draisaitl received more than 51 percent of the votes from sports fans in an online vote and almost 41 percent from the German Olympic team.

12:00 p.m.: Fall in the second downhill training

Austrian Daniel Hemetsberger fell in the second training session on the difficult downhill run in Bormio. Shortly after the second split, the 34-year-old fell behind and fell into the safety net. Hemetsberger lost his helmet. The good news: Hemetsberger was quickly back on his feet and apparently wasn’t injured any worse. However, his face was bleeding. The paramedics handed him a tissue. The Norwegian Fredrik Möller fell in the first training session on Wednesday. He dislocated his shoulder and had to be flown to the hospital by helicopter.

11:33 a.m.: JD Vance arrived in Milan

US Vice President JD Vance arrived as one of the first state guests from all over the world. President Donald Trump’s deputy landed in Milan in the morning on the special Air Force Two plane. Like the rest of the games, his visit will take place under strict security precautions. What caused trouble before the Olympics was that the large US delegation also included officers from the ICE immigration police.

Vance will take part in the central opening ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Friday evening along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to media reports, the US vice president will be in Italy until Monday.

10:28 a.m.: Greenpeace protest the day before the games

The Olympic Games haven’t started yet when a climate protest is causing a stir. When the Olympic torch arrived in Milan, Greenpeace activists used the symbolic moment to stage a protest. Olympic rings dripping oil were placed in front of Milan Cathedral.

Greenpeace had the rings placed on a pedestal on the famous Cathedral Square. “Kick the polluters out of the games,” read one banner. The action is aimed, among other things, against the Italian mineral oil and energy company Eni. The state-controlled company is one of the games’ main domestic sponsors.