More than a top ten place in the medal table is hardly achievable for the German Olympic team in Paris. This is the assessment of Marc-Oliver Löw, Director of the Institute for Applied Training Science in Leipzig (IAT), after analyzing the results of the 2023 World Championships. "If we had said that we wanted to get into the top five, that would certainly have been unrealistic, even if that is basically the long-term goal of the performance sport reform," Löw told the German Press Agency
He added: "If we can maintain ninth place, ideally perhaps move up one place, that is certainly the maximum from a sports science perspective. It would be presumptuous to claim that we can currently move up any further."
At the last Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, Germany finished ninth in the team rankings. The German team won 10 gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze medals. Although Germany is still a world-class nation, "that certainly doesn't apply to all sports", said Löw.
Expert: opportunities are not being used enough
The conditions for top-class sport are still in place, however. "We basically have world-class conditions in many areas, but we still don't manage to produce world-class performances everywhere. In my opinion, we are not using the opportunities that we have in the system to achieve the maximum that would be possible," said the 44-year-old.
He sees the problem primarily in sports funding. "At the moment, in my opinion, we are too broadly based in terms of funding when we talk about wanting to improve the medal table or the final results," said Löw and called for a rethink.
In his view, the alternatives are either to have many athletes in many sports or to concentrate on the top sports. Then you have to be consistent in your decisions. "They're unpleasant, and they need to be communicated openly and transparently so that those who don't get the support they perhaps used to get can understand them. But in my eyes, it's the only way," said Löw.
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