Biathletes Doll and Lesser Against Olympic Boycott

BERLIN (DPA) – German biathletes Benedict Doll and Eric Lesser have spoken out loud against the Games’ boycott of the 2022 Olympics, but criticized the Games in China.

“To be honest, I’m not at all a fan of giving games to a country that has such problems,” Doll told the “Sport1” portal. “But if I invest four years of my life in it, it’s just a highlight and then I want to participate from a sporting point of view and fight for a medal.” Lesser told Redaction Netzwerk Deutschland (RND): “I don’t think it’s okay to expect athletes to boycott the Games.”

IOC in Duty

With a view to the Games in Beijing in the coming year, both athletes see the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a duty. “The IOC had to wear a shoe – that too because of the award. On the one hand, China is not a winter sports venue and on the other, certainly because of the political situation,” said Lesser, 33. Gudiya, two years younger than her, decided: “I think the IOC needs to engage such issues more deeply in decisions.” In his opinion, the Olympic Games are a “highly political issue”.

Recently, the United States, Australia, Great Britain and Canada announced that they would not send politicians to the Games from February 4 to February 20. China has been criticized for human rights violations in its dealings with Uighurs and Tibetans, threats against Taiwan and its suppression of the democracy movement in Hong Kong.

Lesser demanded that the IOC pay more attention to sustainability when awarding the Games. “The winter and summer games should be what they used to be, and we shouldn’t just focus on diplomacy,” the 2014 Olympic runner-up said.