Munich: While the city is trying to organize the Olympics, there is a crisis among track and field athletes

VPerhaps a lot of things actually began here: in those carefree days of August 2022 in the Munich Olympic Stadium. When Munich 800-meter runner Christina Hering ended her home race cheesily under a rainbow; when the Munich high jumper Tobias Potye won silver in a memorable competition in the thunderstorm; when the audience was intoxicated by seven athletics gold medals at the European Championships – and not least by themselves: Yes, 50 years after the Olympic Games, they had actually managed to at least rekindle an atmosphere that was definitely ready for the Olympics under this time-honored tent roof. With athletics in a football town.

Something very technocratic has now arisen from this: a four-way battle between Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr and Munich for a German Olympic bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044, framed in a complicated matrix that is intended to ensure some objectivity in the selection. Anyone who experienced the roaring Olympic Stadium almost bursting with emotions back then should not be too surprised by the biggest trump card of Munich’s bid so far, namely the broad (and probably unthinkable years before) support among the population. What is much more surprising, however, is the state in which Munich athletics is currently presented, at least from the perspective of LG Stadtwerke, which has represented this sport here for years. Because a considerable number of the best athletes are now running away from her.

The day before St. Nicholas, the LG, an association of ten Munich athletics divisions, went public with it. In a statement she advocated “long-term structures” instead of “short-term projects”, and this could be understood as a kind of cry for help from an association that is worried about its importance. The trigger is the large number of athletes who turn their backs on the LG at the turn of the year – but, that is part of the truth, they do not leave Munich, but rather join Munich Athletics, a new offshoot of the Germany Athletics, which is based on the franchise principle. The former hammer thrower Claus Dethloff has now rolled it out in twelve German cities.

LG Stadtwerke was not completely unprepared for this new competition; the founding had already been planned a year ago. At that time, three high jumpers around Potye and the sprinter Yannick Wolf had already switched to Germany Athletics and parked at other locations. Now they move on to Munich Athletics – and meet companions there. Not everyone who leaves LG Stadtwerke at the end of the year switches to the new competition. The sprinter Aleksandar Askovic, for example, is moving to Bayer Leverkusen, and Merlin Hummel, the World Cup runner-up in the hammer throw, is moving to Eintracht Frankfurt after a falling out with his coach. And by no means all of those that Munich Athletics is now taking on come from LG Stadtwerke, there are a good dozen of “almost 30” that Dethloff reports. But the trend is clear: the long-established club alliance is losing its strongest athletes, while Germany Athletics can hardly save itself from influx.

LG President Jacob Minah sounds somewhat shocked by the large number of departures. “It does hurt,” he says. He “didn’t expect” that entire training groups would be affected, especially the female area around Daryl Ndasi in the sprint, as well as the former German U-20 indoor champion Fabian Olbert and other members of the high jump group. Minah accuses Germany Athletics of going after the best and presenting themselves as “more efficient” than LG. It’s easy if you just concentrate on a small group of top athletes without having to take on all the screening and broad support that your clubs do.

Dethloff, in turn, assures that he did not actively approach anyone. He has received many inquiries. And because he has been the first chairman of each of his branches so far, he doesn’t have any time to approach talent himself. The need was simply there.

“We have to make the stage bigger and more colorful,” demands Dethloff

Dethloff wants to bring a breath of fresh air into the scene, and his ideas are aimed primarily at the active, less at structures: more appreciation, more financial security through monthly donations plus bonuses, better marketing. The sport is defined too much by international medals, instead of, for example, questioning the competition culture in this country, offering new formats with greater frequency, more attractive meetings, or a league system like the one he wants to build. If the highlight of the season is a German championship, that can’t motivate anyone. “We have to make the stage bigger and more colorful,” he says. And he doesn’t want to create administrative apparatuses with his franchise, but rather many “start-ups”. Because the entrepreneur puts a lot of equity into the project, it has worked so far. It remains exciting to see whether the 57-year-old’s confidence that he will one day be able to bear all of this alone is justified.

When he presents his approaches, Dethloff can hardly be stopped; he would love to discuss them more often with club and association representatives. But there he usually encounters “rejection” and “defense”.

And so back to Munich, where the LG is perhaps a prime example of, yes: what exactly? Entrenched structures? Stubbornness? Or maybe some of the constraints that Dethloff can avoid as long as he only skims off cream?

Minah’s problems can be summarized as follows: The available funds, which largely come from the eponymous sponsor, the Münchner Stadtwerke, have long been no longer sufficient to support both the broad and the top. It’s a paradox that we’ve become too successful for that over the years. More starts meant higher costs. They had to make cuts in all areas, including the top athletes, and he doesn’t hold it against them that they have now changed. “Every euro counts.” And essentially nothing will change for the squad athletes; they use the same sports facilities as before and are trained by the same state coaches. The LG had recently tried to take over the lucrative Munich Marathon as the new organizer in order to generate additional income, but this failed because of the district administration department. A second attempt will be made, explains Minah, “because we don’t see any other options.”

What remains beyond that? With its announcement, the LG appeals to the city and the Bavarian Athletics Association (BLV). You have to sit down and define a future together. The once multi-year contract with the municipal utilities was recently only extended by one year, but the LG needs planning security. Should she save money on popular sports in order to provide support? Give up top-class sport? Accepting the role of supplier to Munich Athletics without complaint is “not our model,” says Minah. After all, LG Stadtwerke was still second in the German club rankings in 2024, meaning it was listed most frequently in national best lists behind Bayer Leverkusen. And none of its member clubs want to cooperate with Germany Athletics, says Minah, which will make it very difficult for the new club to become active in the promotion of young talent in Munich – because to do this they would have to find free sports areas. In Cologne, for example, the franchise cooperates with several clubs and also goes to schools.

Gerhard Neubauer is very concerned about the development. The president of the BLV emphasizes the independence of his state coaches, who do not favor any club, but are also not allowed to encourage anyone to change clubs – and who are paid from state funds that are intended to benefit young talent and not top-class sport. “What’s a shame: If LG and Munich Athletics had come to a reasonable agreement, perhaps divided disciplines between themselves, there could have been cooperation.” But there was hardly any dialogue. Neubauer is now very much hoping for the Olympic Games in Munich; if the contract is awarded, “completely different options could be discussed,” he says. At least some of these may arise if the city, as expected, applies for the World Athletics Championships in 2029 or 2031. But now Munich Athletics is starting as a newcomer. And Minah emphasizes for LG Stadtwerke: “The athletes who could represent Munich in 2040 or 2044 are training in our children’s groups today.”