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Quadriga - On Your Marks: Who Wants the Olympic Games?

February 26, 2015

Cities the world over are getting ready to apply to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2024. Here in Germany it will soon be decided whether the candidate city will be Hamburg or Berlin. But a lot of people in Germany don’t want the event to be staged here at all.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EiOk

Politicians and business leaders in Hamburg and Berlin are campaigning to stage the games in their city. Whichever German city is chosen will then have to face the competition from other candidates, currently Boston and Rome.

Deutschland Berliner Olympiabewerbung
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini

The cities want to present themselves as innovative and tolerant venues. As well as attracting visitors to the sports events, politicians expect major investments in infrastructure and new housing ahead of the games.

Wladimir Putin Olympische Ringe
Image: dapd

But many people remain sceptical because hosting the Olympic Games costs billions. The NOlympia initiative in Berlin says the city, which is deep in dept, should invest the money in schools, infrastructure and affordable housing.

Olympische Ringe als Feuerwerk bei der Eröffnungsfeier in Peking
Image: AP

Past examples of corruption, spiraling costs and political instrumentalization by authoritarian regimes have fueled scepticism towards the International Olympic Committee. But public support is seen as an important criterion by the German Olympic Committee.

Has the Olympic idea fallen victim to scandals and commerce? How have venues profited from hosting the games in the past? What must be done to revive people’s enthusiasm for the Olympic Games?

Tell us what you think: quadriga(at)dw.de

Our guests:

26.02.2015 DW QUADRIGA Jens Weinreich

Jens Weinreich- A sports journalist for more than two decades, Jens Weinreich has reported on many major events, including ten Olympic Games and many World Championships (Soccer, Athletics, Swimming). His work, focussing on what goes on behind the scenes in sport, has won him many prizes: twice he was Germany's Sports Journalist of the Year, and he has also been named Online Journalist of the Year. His blog 'Sport and Politics' (www.jensweinreich.de) won the prestigious Grimme Online Award. Weinreich recently published an ebook on the power struggles behind the Olympic movement.

25.07.2013 DW QUADRIGA Erik Kirschbaum

Erik Kirschbaum– Born in New York, Kirschbaum began as a reporter for various dailies and magazines in the US. He moved to Europe in 1989 to become a correspondent in Germany and Austria. Kirschbaum now works for the “Reuters” news agency in Berlin.

26.02.2015 DW QUADRIGA Albert Steinberger

Albert Steinberger- is a Brazilian videojournalist based in Berlin. He followed the process of the World Cup and the Olympic Games in Brazil from the early beginnings of the bid until the mass protests. He reported from the Olympic Games 2012 in London and covered the World Cup in Brazil for the German TV. In 2009 he was awarded the “Rede Globo de Jornalismo”prize for the coverage of a corruption scandal involving a Brazilian State Governor.