In the context of the European Championships Munich 2022, an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Sports Ministers and Sports Senators of the 16 German states took place at the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS) in Garching on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. The Conference of Ministers of Sport (SMK) has existed since 1977 and serves to coordinate the promotion of sport in the federal states. In addition, the SMK safeguards the interests of all federal states in the field of sports - both on a national and international level. The Sports Ministers' Conference is chaired by one state for a period of two years each. The current chairman is Roger Lewentz, Minister of the Interior and Sports of Rhineland-Palatinate.
On behalf of the Board of Management, Dean Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz welcomed the participants to the TU Munich: "In addition to the TUM main campus near the Pinakotheken, the TUM campus in the Olympiapark is also part of the Munich location, where I would actually have liked to welcome you today in our new building, which was inaugurated on May 16. However, as the European Championships uses the Campus as a training facility for four sports and as an event venue, this was unfortunately not possible. However, our Sports and Health Campus in the Olympic Park would of course have been the ideal venue for the Conference of Sports Ministers, seeing that the main topic of your meeting is competitive and top-level sports or the promotion of top-level sports," said the Dean.
The Bavarian Minister of the Interior and Sports, Joachim Herrmann, spoke in his welcoming address about the European Championships in Munich, which are taking place until Sunday, August 21: "We have a great atmosphere in the city, and not only in the Olympic Park, but also at all the other locations such as Königsplatz or the regatta course in Oberschleissheim. It's simply phenomenal! The athletes are totally thrilled by the way the spectators cheer them on. In particular, we have succeeded in making the event sustainable. This shows two positive sides of the same coin: On the one hand, all the sports facilities from the 1972 Olympic Games are still fully operational. On the other hand, all other facilities are for the most part only temporary, which is why no intervention in nature was necessary. This sends out an important message: We in Germany are capable of organizing such outstanding sporting competitions in a sustainable manner and as CO2-free as possible."
In the course of the meeting, Arjen van Drielen from the Dutch Ministry of Sport, was connected via video conference and reported on his country's top-level sports promotion. In addition, Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), called for a "pact for sport": "We have to ask ourselves what kind of competitive sport we want. We have to ask ourselves how we can support our athletes and coaches even better. We have to ask ourselves how we can increase the importance of exercise and sport in the entire life cycle of people in our country, in competitive and popular sport," said Weikert.
In the evening, the ministers and senators of the federal states were able to see for themselves the atmosphere and the sustainable implementation of the European Championships when they visited the second day of the athletics competitions in the Olympic Stadium.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz
Dean Department of Sport and Health Sciences
Chair of Preventive Pediatrics
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24601
e-mail: dekanat.sg(at)tum.de
Text & Photos: Romy Schwaiger