Olympic cross-country ski champion Veronica Stepanova In her column on , she wrote that the winners of the Beijing Games, Germany’s Katharina Hennig and Victoria Karl, are doing nothing to popularize the sport in their home country.
In February 2022, Russian skiers Yulia Stupak and Natalya Nepryaeva won bronze medals at the Beijing Olympic Games in the classic team sprint. Hennig and Karl won, while Swedes Maya Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling took silver.
— At the Beijing Olympics, where we won the classic relay, the Germans won the team sprint. For the first time in many years, the Germans did not win medals at a few Olympic Games. I can’t say that I know Katie Hennig and Victoria Karl well, but the impression I had when meeting them was very pleasant: friendly, smiling. I have no problem with them.
German ski racing has understood this well: Kati and Vikki absolutely do not want to be the stars that Olympic gold automatically makes them. Although this is Germany, tens of millions of viewers watch sporting events on public television channels every weekend. Stars of other sports – athletics, for example, or biathlon – want it. But there are no skiers. They do not appear on television screens, they do not write columns or blogs, they do not loudly promise to “give someone a minute”. Result? There is no influx into German ski racing – no money, no new talent,” Stepanova wrote.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
