When the SZ last sent two reporters from the sports department to the winter games four years ago, it was a journey into the unknown. The restrictions of the corona pandemic met the paranoia of the Chinese surveillance state. It was not clear whether the colleagues would arrive at the biathlon and ice rink or whether they would be forcibly diverted to a quarantine hotel beforehand. Then everything went well. We then scrapped the laptops with the Chinese snooping apps installed. Nobody will claim that the 2022 Beijing Games were a happy sporting festival.
Four years later, the Winter Games are coming home, back to the Alps. For an editorial team based in Bavaria, this “home” is more than just an empty phrase. From Munich to Cortina, the main town of the games in the mountains, it is a 320-kilometer journey. From Milan to Cortina it is a hundred kilometers more. This makes it clear what will be a big challenge for us this time, beyond China and Corona: the distances. It’s half a day’s journey from the biathletes in Antholz to the freestylers in Livigno.
Eight colleagues will therefore report for the SZ from northern Italy in the coming weeks. Barbara Klimkewhich was also in Beijing in 2022, will follow the games in Cortina, where skiers and skaters compete. Korbinian Eisenberger reports from Antholz (biathlon), Sebastian Winter from Val di Fiemme (Nordic skiing). Felix HaselsteinerSZ employee in Milan, is drawn to Bormio and Livigno, to Alpine men and snowboarders. Johannes Schnitzler follows ice hockey, speed skating and figure skating in Milan. Johannes Aumüller and Johannes Knuth are dedicated to the IOC and other sports policy issues. And also Holger Gertz is part of the team again for major reports on Page Three.
The reporters’ analyses, interviews and comments will appear on extensive special pages, in the printed and digital editions, on sz.de and in the SZ app. There you will also find extensive live tickers and a data center with all the results. And there you can not only read our Olympic coverage, but also listen to it: The podcast “And Now to Sport” will focus on the Olympics for three weeks.
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