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Germany
Germany
In Fall 2019 the German Olympic Academy led a German delegation participating in the first joint seminar of the National Olympic Academies of Israeland Germany. Besides its Vice President, Prof. Manfred Lämmer, and its Director Mr Tobias Knoch the delegation consisted of different representatives of sports organisations, political, scientific and social institutions. The seminar focused on two key aspects: The preservation of the universality of the Olympic Movement and the training of coaches.The year 2019 had been completed with the final of the case studies competition, in which student groups from all over Germany simulated an application for the 2025 Universiade in the region Rhein-Ruhr. A prominent jury consisting of Johanna Becker (Chair member of the German University Sports Federation), Jörg Förster (Chairman of the German University Sports Federation), Stefan Klos (CEO of PROPROJEKT), Annegret Korff (Head of Division “Major Sport Events” of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community), Michael Schirp (Assistant Head of Media & Public Relation of the German Sports Federation) and Bernhard Schwank (Head of Sports & Sports Infrastructure of the State Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia) judged their presentations and awarded the University of Leipzig with the first place. Although several events like the event series “Biebricher Schlossgespräche” or the German Olympic Youth Camp had to be cancelled, some activities took place in 2020.As it was not possible to organize an event to celebrate the Olympic Day like in the past years, the German Olympic Academy installed an “Olympic Day Digit@l”. Via its social media platforms, the DOA provided a week full of online activities and information as well as a call to participate in an offline run – each one for oneself.On this occasion the German Olympic Academy also published its extensive teaching material again.Dealing with topics concerning the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, teachers received elaborated drafts for their classes – adapted to different ages.There are two brochures – one for elementary schools, one for secondary schools – and a lot of complementary worksheets online. Each of these brochures is available at no costs in digital version. In this context the German Olympic Academy also launched a new website that provides all its offers for schools: www.olympia-ruft.de.Last but not least the German Olympic Academy was subject to important changes regarding its staff. Tobias Knoch, who had been Director since 2013, left the German Olympic Academy to join the Landessportbund Sachsen-Anhalt (States Sports Federation of Saxony-Anhalt). As of August 17, 2020, the 51-year-old Dr Gerald Fritz took over the management of the office of the German Olympic Academy. In addition to various positions in research and teaching, including a doctorate in Sports Economics, Dr Fritz also has extensive experience in organized sports, focusing mainly on event management and marketing. In addition to his professional expertise Dr Fritz also has a strong connection to the Olympic movement.