View Content #1848
| Contentid | 1848 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | German: Sports |
| Body | Olympic team aims for top-five finish Germany has set its sights on a top-five finish in the overall medal count at the upcoming Summer Games in Athens, officials from the country's NOK Olympic Committee said Monday. "We placed third in the standings in Atlanta and fifth in Sydney," NOK chief Klaus Steinbach told reporters. "That should be our declared goal again this year." Steinbach said Germany will send 452 athletes to Athens, among them seven-time kayaking gold medallist Birgit Fischer, cyclist Jan Ullrich and swimmers Franziska van Almsick and Thomas Rupprath. The 254-man, 198-woman delegation also includes the country's European champion handball squad and its World Cup-winning women's soccer team. Track and field's 79-athlete contingent will be the largest in the German team- though observers give the Germans only slim chances of winning a medal in the sport. German athletes are expected to make the podium in sports ranging from rowing and kayaking to field hockey and fencing, possibly helping the country to reverse a steady decline in its overall medal count showing. At the 1988 Games in Seoul, West and East Germany won a combined total of 142 medals. Four years later, a united German team claimed 82 medals in Barcelona, followed by 65 in Atlanta and 56 in Sydney. Yet even more important than its medal count is Germany's clean and fair image, said Steinbach of the NOK. "We want to present a good picture of our country," he said. Links: Olympic spirit alight in Berlin and Munich (from Germany Info) http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/info/publications/week/2004/040702/ sport1.html German Olmpic Committee http://www.nok.de/ Sports from deutschland.de http://www.deutschland.de/hauptrubrik.php?lang=2&category1=4 |
| Source | This week in Germany |
| Inputdate | 2004-07-26 18:31:00 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2004-07-26 18:31:00 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | Not set |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
