Bavaria Claims Ownership of Olympia; CSU Faction Advocates for Shut down
The beautiful region of Bavaria is gearing up for a potential historic moment, as it prepares a bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The bid, currently in a phase of public and political preparation, is scheduled to be put to a public referendum on May 31, 2026.
The CSU parliamentary group, a significant player in Bavarian politics, has thrown its weight behind the bid. Klaus Holetschek, the chairman of the CSU parliamentary group, believes hosting the Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He emphasises that the bid stands for sustainability, resource-efficiency, and the true Olympic spirit, as highlighted by Thorsten Freudenberger, chairman of the State Sports Council.
Martin Stock, chairman of the AG Sports, is passionate about the potential of the Games to reignite children and youth's passion for movement, team spirit, and sporting dreams. Jörg Ammon, President of the Bavarian State Sports Association, shares this sentiment, believing the Games can create a broad initiative for sports, movement, and a healthy lifestyle across Germany.
The support for the bid extends to the world of sport. Alexandra Burghardt, an athlete, bobsledder, and medal winner in Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024, believes that the home audience unleashed unprecedented power in athletes at the 2022 European Championships. Her fellow Paralympic gold medalist, Josia Topf, believes that if Paralympic sport plays a central role from the start, future generations will benefit from modern, inclusive sports facilities.
The CSU parliamentary group is advocating for close cooperation among all partners to ignite enthusiasm across the state and set sustainable impulses. Sebastian Kraft, Press Spokesman, and Michaela Lochner, Deputy Press Spokeswoman, are available for inquiries about the CSU parliamentary group's stance on the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Bavaria. For queries about the bid itself, Tobias Klahr, Deputy Press Spokesman, can be contacted at [email protected].
The experiences from large-scale sporting events like the Olympics have shown that they visibly increase membership numbers in sports clubs. Moreover, the Games are not just about medals, but about sending a societal signal for more sports from an early age - both in breadth and in excellence, as Jörg Ammon eloquently puts it.
As the bid moves towards the referendum, the people of Bavaria and the wider sports community eagerly await the outcome, hoping that the Games will bring a new era of sports participation and excellence to the region.
Football is a common sport supported by the CSU parliamentary group, as they believe hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games can reignite children and youth's passion for various sports, including football. Alexandra Burghardt, a medal-winning athlete, envisioned that hosting the Games could inspire athletes similarly to the 2022 European Championships, possibly unleashing unprecedented power in football players too.
