Opinions to the 18th European Championships in Athletics in Munich
The countdown has begun! With the lead-in press evening on 01 February 2001 in the Olympic Park Munich, the organisers have presented for the first time in public the optical appearance of the 18th European Championships in Athletics. In the meantime various personalities have expressed their opinion on the European Championships in Munich on different occasions. Mayor Dr. Gertraud Burkert on the successful application to win 18th European Championships in Athletics in October 1997 in Budapest and to the advantages of Munich:
"We are still proud of the clear result against Amsterdam and Lausanne and the vote for Munich in the first round of voting. Munich offers much in many different ways for these championships. The first point is certainly the Olympic Park with its facilities but also its experienced management. Europe's largest sport and leisure park with its wide variety of opportunities make it an ideal venue. In the first instance, of course the Olympic Stadium Munich with its thirty-year success story which began with the track-and-field competitions at the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. Then the Olympic Hall, which will make an outstanding press centre for you the representatives of the press. Then the generous park area which will make a superb marketplace for sponsors but also permit a diversified visitors programme for the spectators. And then finally the accommodation of the athletes in the Olympic Village so that we can again rightly say these are the 'competitions with the short routes.Hansjörg Wirz, President of the European Athletics Association, on the significance of the 18th European Championships in Athletics:
"The 18th European Championships in Athletics are held only every four years and take place between two World Championships. In the year it takes place, the championship is the most significant and the most important track-and-field event in Europe. The high performance level leads to excellent and attractive competition which is highly regarded all over Europe. The media coverage is enormous and the great public interest is reflected in the high television audiences. And of course these championships are very significant for the active sportsmen and women and the associations. Medals at European Championships in Athletics are considered to be very important.
Prof. Dr. Helmut Digel, President of the German Athletics Association, on the relationship between stars and up-coming athletes at the 18th European Championships in Athletics:
"Munich could be described as the twin-generation festival. Outstanding athletes of both sexes who have given a great deal to the German Track-and-Field Association will compete for the last time in Munich. At the same time there will new young stars, who wish to add to their magnificent performances in the Junior World Championships in Chile. Our good follow-on generation gives cause for German track-and-field sports to be optimistic that in future there will be outstanding German personalities in world track-and-field sports.
Wilfrid Spronk, Managing Director of Olympiapark München GmbH, on the atmosphere, which should prevail in the Olympic Park during the 18th European Championships in Athletics:
"Exactly 30 years after the Happy Games in Munich, the whole Olympic Park will again be marked by a unique atmosphere. The 18th European Championships in Athletics in 2002 will be presented in an immense experience world. The whole park will be made into a single playing field: in a central area of the Olympic Park, the Coubertin Square, there will be a "Sponsors' Market", at the same time in the Theatron, a music stage on the Olympic Lake, there will be open air concerts and for our young visitors to the Championships there will be a mini-Munich play area. Many further attractive programme points are planned, also our sponsors will participate. Moreover the Olympic Stadium will be decorated as a multi-coloured arena. With the inclusion of the whole Olympic Park we will have an experience event during the 18th European Championships in Athletics, during which the sports city Munich will present itself as cosmopolitan and European.
Opinions Voiced by the Ambassadors of the 18th European Championships in Athletics
Florian Schwarthoff, Hurdler, on his relationship to Munich:
"The 18th European Championships in Athletics in Munich will be an absolute highlight in my career. It is the dream of every sportsman to start in front of his own countrymen in his home country. That I continue my career for two years after Sydney has above all to do with Munich, for then a full circle for me would be complete: in my youth, I trained in the Werner-von-Linde-Hall. I know the sports grounds in the Olympic Park very well and am looking forward to ending my career in Munich.
Oliver-Sven Buder, Shot Putter, on his expectations for Munich:
"My aim is to become Europe champion in Munich. And that not only because every sportsman would like to win a major championship but for a special very personal reason: I was European champion as a junior in front of my home crowd. That was in 1985 in Cottbus. In front of over 10 000 spectators and in my own country. That was an indescribable experience. And it is one I should like to experience again as an adult. For who has the chance to become European champion twice in his own country? I am already hard at work for this aim today.
