Harsh criticism from luge legend Georg Hackl (55): The three-time Olympic champion said in the “world on Sunday“that he would postpone the Winter Games in Beijing (February 4 to 20) because of the corona pandemic.
Hackl finds clear words: “Especially in a host country that deals so drastically with the pandemic, sets significantly lower limits for PCR tests than in Germany, takes athletes off the ice rink shortly before the start and locks them in quarantine, a major event is like Olympics is not feasible at all.”
According to Hackl, infections can never be ruled out, in the end half of the athletes might not be able to start at all: “That doesn’t make any sense to me. So my idea would be to postpone the games because of the virus. You’re doing yourself a disservice by torturing everyone involved. You just don’t torment the viewers. They shouldn’t come in the first place.”
The lugers had experienced the restrictive corona policy of the Chinese during their test competitions in November. “It was strange. After the plane landed in Beijing, we had to stay in the cabin for a very long time. When I looked out of the window at some point, all I saw were hooded figures everywhere. I only met people with full masks on site, i.e. people with white protective suits, face masks, Plexiglas panes over them and rubber gloves. Like astronauts,” said Hackl.
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