Exclusive -- Bach, Bokel: "Extremely Difficult Time" for German Olympic Bids

(ATR) On November 10, voters in Bavaria rejected a proposal for Munich to bid for the 2022 Olympics. Voters also seem to have sunk Germany’s future Olympic aspirations.

Following the defeat of Munich 2022 at the polls, Hamburg announced that as a consequence, it would not bid for the 2024 Olympics.

IOC president Thomas Bach, who is from Germany, and Claudia Bokel, the country’s lone IOC member, now see a bleak future for a potential Olympic bid.

Bach said to Around the Rings the decision came down to a group of voters "being wrongly informed about quite a number of issues."

Bach led Munich’s failed bid for the 2018 Olympics when he was president of the DOSB, Germany’s Olympic Committee.

He added that voters throughout Germany have rejected "big infrastructure projects" lately. That might suggest an overall unease for big-spending projects throughout Germany.

"I hope very much that Germans are considering this and they are getting a little bit more ready for the future," Bach said.

Speaking to Around the Rings, Bokel was clearly upset over the decision.

"We wanted it here and now," Bokel said of German Olympic leaders’ desire to bid for 2022. Now, it is time to "re-think" German Olympic strategy, she said.

"We need to carefully think that through and think about a lot of other issues as well."

And she has her own analysis for why the bid failed. "I love the Olympics, I think they are amazing.

"We didn’t get that message through all the good things that we do."

Despite the decisions from Munich and Hamburg, Bach found some optimism for a future German Olympic bid.

"Berlin showed interest so this is a clear signal that the Olympic spirit is alive there. I hope that we will soon see a strong bid."

Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo and Stockholm are the 2022 bid cities. The IOC will vote on a host at the 2015 IOC Session.

Bach called the six bids "excellent."

Written by Ed Hula III

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.