Olympics: Don't Write Off Berlin

The Sun Herald

Saturday July 31, 1993

BRUCE JONES IN GERMANY

BERLIN: Bumper stickers proclaiming Sydney 2000 are beginning to appear on taxis here, and T-shirts with the Berlin Bear logo looking grumpy are selling like hot cakes.

But, in the countdown to September 23 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will vote in Monaco to decide the venue for the Games, the wearers are not so much supporting Sydney as opposing Berlin.

Many Berliners-including a militant opposition group-would rather the DM3.3 billion ($2.84 billion) their city is spending on its bid went instead to housing and development in Eastern Germany.

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding that the Government forget the Games, resulting in fears that security could be a problem for athletes if the German bid was successful.

"You could have something like Munich (Olympic massacre 1972)," claimed Ulf Goettges, editor-in-chief of the Berlin edition of Bild, a racy German broadsheet which nationally sells four million copies a day.

While his alarmist view probably reflects the sort of sensational headlines in which his newspaper revels, Goettges believes it is the only reason Sydney will win.

Sydney may see Beijing as its biggest threat but, overwhelmingly, Germans are convinced it is a two-horse race between Sydney and Berlin.

The reason is that, along with a natural patriotic bias, most Germans dismiss Beijing's bid as being out of the question because of China's human rights record and memories of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

And, despite the opposition to the Games' bid, there is no doubting that Olympic fever-albeit in a milder form than Sydney's-has gripped the German capital.

Public transport and the city's streets are festooned with the bright yellow teddy bear logo (with smiling mouth-which upside down looks like a desert island with a palm tree on it) over the declaration: "Ich Bin Dafur" (I am For).

Long queues also form outside the television tower at Alexander Platz in East Berlin to view a special exhibition of plans for the Games, including impressive new venues.

A recent survey showed that 58 per cent of the population favours holding the games in Berlin-a response which by Sydney standards might be interpreted as less than enthusiastic.

But Dr Freidrich Ruth, vice-president of Germany's Olympia GmbH, the limited company behind the bid, said the finding did not mean 42pc of people were strongly opposed.

"Many of them are simply undecided, and if Germany wins the bid then you can be sure that they will throw their whole support behind it," he told The Sun-Herald.

Dr Ruth, a former ambassador to Washington, Moscow and Rome, and Germany's Commissioner for Disarmament from 1977-87, diplomatically refused to criticise any of Berlin's competitors.

At the same time, supported by government and the might of Germany industry, Berlin has a lot of money behind its attempt to ensure the city is successful on September 23.

Recently, 50 of Germany's biggest companies pledged to support the bid with DM1 billion ($862 million), on top of the DM3.3 billion ($2.84 billion)guaranteed by the Government.

And Berlin is more than matching Sydney's offer to pay the full air fares of the 15,000 athletes and officials if it wins the 2000 Games.

"In consultation with National Olympic Committees (NOCs), we will make a contribution so that all athletes who want to participate will have their journey paid for," said Dr Ruth.

In addition, Berlin is offering full training facilities in Germany for teams preparing for the Games, and a program of development assistance for countries that need it.

Dr Ruth, who claims that no city has its nose in front at this stage of the competition, said Germany remained a strong contender with a "realistic"chance.

Apart from being an attractive city with parks, forests and lakes, Berlin had in its favour:

* A population of around 3.5 million, including 500,000 active sportsmen and women providing a ready source of volunteer helpers.

* Most of the new Olympic buildings and venues were already under construction and would be completed by 1997.

* An ability to offer a combination of sport and culture, including three opera houses, three symphony orchestras and 40 theatres.

Berlin also is pushing hard the theme that since the Wall dividing East and West Germany was toppled in November 1989, the city has become a symbol of freedom and reunification.

Nevertheless, racially motivated attacks on foreigners by German neo-Nazis is known to concern some of the 91 IOC members who will vote in Monte Carlo, particularly the Africans.

Dr Ruth claimed the violence had passed its peak and that the "evil-doers"responsible for the worst incidents-at Molln and Solingen where eight Turks were killed-had been arrested and brought before the courts.

Dr Ruth also rejected claims that Berlin was still haunted by the ghost of Adolf Hitler propounding his theories of racial superiority which marred the 1936 Olympics.

He said the one figure that had dominated the 1936 Olympics was Jessie Owens, the outstanding black American athlete whom he claimed had been a counterweight to Hitler's attempts to misuse the Games.

"And the heart-warming thing is that Jessie Owens's widow, Ruth Owens, is very much interested in Berlin. She is in her 70s; a very lovely, very spirited person," he said.

On top of the DM3.3 billion ($2.84 billion) Berlin is spending on its bid, the city has allocated DM11 billion ($9.48 billion) for construction, including DM100 million ($86.2 million) for upgrading local public transport and extending the underground.

Sailing events, to be held 230km away at Rostock on the Baltic Sea, will be accessible in around two hours by a new high-speed rail link.

Dr Ruth said another important plus for Berlin was its application to hold the Paralympics for the disabled as an essential part of the German capital's bid.

Win or lose, Dr Ruth believes that all cities participating in the bidding process will be winners.

"What I hope is that all of us will be able to look back with pleasure to the time when we were competing together ... that we will be able to say it was worth getting to know each other better," he said.

While Sydney must be considered the front-runner for the Games, it would be nice to think that Australians could face the prospect of losing with the same pragmatism and grace.