Nike Lorenz, the captain of the German national hockey team, will play with the rainbow armband in the Olympic tournament.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) announced on Thursday that the IOC had agreed to a joint application by DOSB and the German Hockey Association, according to which “Nike Lorenz should wear the rainbow band as a symbol of sexual diversity at the games of their team during the Olympic Games in Tokyo may".

Christoph Becker

Sports editor.

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Nike Lorenz has been wearing this armband for months, including at the European Championships in the Netherlands in June.

However, rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter and the guidelines recently published by the IOC prohibit this.

In an interview with the FAZ on Monday, Lorenz criticized that she felt alone in the matter of DOSB and IOC and that she was completely unclear what sanction she would have to expect if she was wearing the rainbow band.

"I'm really happy"

On Thursday, she said in a phone call that the release applies to her team for the entire tournament, for the first time she will play against Great Britain (2.30 a.m. CEST) on Sunday. “I'm really happy that I can wear the bandage.” In the past few days, this topic in Tokyo has become quite political, “I've sometimes stood between the chairs. But I felt very, very safe with our sports director Christoph Menke-Salz and always had the support of everyone in the team. "

It feels “incredibly good to have given my teammates the space on the field that they deserve.

Every single trait of ours now officially has its place.

Love always wins! "In the meantime, she has received numerous happy messages from families and friends on the phone:" The cell phone is bursting. "

Menke-Salz, the sports director of the German Hockey Association, said in a DHB press release that he was very pleased that the DOSB had supported the association "also in this matter".

He thanked the IOC and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the “open, solution-oriented” approach.

"Likewise, our highest respect goes to our ladies, who make this statement possible with their personal commitment."

The DOSB claimed the success for itself.

In a press release, the headline reads: "DOSB, DHB and Hockey Women set standards for diversity".

DOSB President Alfons Hörmann is quoted as saying that he was “pleased with the successful advance of Team D”: “We are delighted that we have found a common path that enables the hockey team to make a socio-political statement. "

Groundbreaking commitment

So far, making political statements about sportswear and accessories has been forbidden, but before the Games the IOC had made it clear that this would continue to apply during the competition, in the Olympic Village and during ceremonies such as award ceremonies. In individual cases, this ban has now apparently been lifted, so the commitment of German hockey players is groundbreaking. The men’s team at the DHB is discussing whether they should do the same as the women’s.

The athletes' association Athleten Deutschland, in which Nike Lorenz is also involved, pointed out on Thursday that there are still different freedoms for different athletes at the games in Tokyo. The IOC had given the international associations the option of banning statements of this or similar type, such as kneeling against racism. Now it seems as if the IOC allows the associations to approve their regulations - wearing a rainbow band is not prohibited in international hockey games outside of the Olympic Games - upon application at the Olympics.

Athleten Deutschland had already proposed a corresponding procedure in September 2020 and requested a position from the DOSB in April. This did not take place. "Athletes Germany is happy with and for Nike Lorenz," said a statement from the organization on Thursday. It is regrettable that “Germany also failed to“ address these issues proactively and in good time in a debate that lasted over a year ”.

Meanwhile, different rules still apply in different sports in Tokyo. The international swimming federation FINA had banned the swimmers from making any political statements at the pool. Nike Lorenz, who, as she said, looks at the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay from her quarters in the Olympic Village, said in her interview with the FAZ: “The fact that the swimming association can restrict swimmers is not the case with athletes fair. We make commitments that are not kept to us. It is our rights and our freedoms. "

Athletes Germany demanded that after the Nike Lorenz precedent, the application for the release of statements must now be open to all athletes. In addition, "ambiguity and confusion" in the sanctioning of violations of rule 50 must be eliminated.