Dirk Schimmelpfennig, who heads the German team as Chef de Mission at the Olympic Games, has expressed harsh criticism of the quarantine conditions, which would make life difficult for the athletes concerned.

He described Eric Frenzel's accommodation as "unreasonable".

In the case of the 33-year-old nordic combined athlete, it was necessary to "accelerate optimization".

Christopher Becker

sports editor.

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Marc Heinrich

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Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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The quarter in which the double Olympic champion from 2014 and 2018 is currently staying has various shortcomings.

On the one hand, it was "not big enough," said Schimmelpfennig at a press conference of the German Olympic Sports Confederation on Saturday afternoon (local time) in Zhangjiakou.

Frenzel, like his teammate Terence Weber, had tested positive for the corona virus when they arrived in Beijing.

Schimmelpfennig called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Winter Games (BOCOG) to ensure as soon as possible that affected athletes such as Frenzel or the German figure skater Nolan Seegert, who was the first German athlete to test positive on Wednesday, would be accommodated in “hygienically clean” conditions and “get their food regularly”.

Even with the acceptance of the PCR test, which is intended to clarify whether the virus infection is still present, greater “reliability” must be achieved, said Schimmelpfennig.

Professor Bernd Wolfarth, the German Olympic doctor, said that Frenzel, Weber and Seegert have been "consistently symptom-free" so far, "that's good news".

He and other doctors from the German team are in regular contact with them.

"He was mentally exhausted"

Seegert was reported to be able to move into "a bigger room" soon, where he'll have a better internet connection that will allow him to communicate with the outside world with less interference, as well as more space to set up exercise equipment as well.

The German national ice hockey team spontaneously offered their willingness to help, said Schimmelpfennig, and provided Seegert with parts of their equipment.

At least two negative PCR tests are required to be able to leave the quarantine again.

Schimmelpfennig held out the prospect of Frenzel, Seegert and Weber "getting back" the "perspective" of participating in a competition in the further course of these Winter Games.

On one condition: your health must allow it.

The circumstances of the quarantine accommodation of the German athletes are remarkable because it was the German lugers who complained about the unsustainable quarantine conditions imposed by the Chinese organizers after the first World Cup of the season in autumn in Yangqing.

After that, the DOSB approached the IOC and pushed for improvements in the Olympic Games.

These had been assured.

Despite all diplomacy, Schimmelpfennig's statements regarding the improvement efforts of the past few days and hours have not been fulfilled.

Schimmelpfennig said that the organizing committee had submitted pictures of the hotels, but obviously the reality differed from the depiction in the online brochure. It was not possible to know which hotels the German athletes would take if necessary, said Schimmelpfennig. "The athletes are rightly asking for improvements." He referred to the "peak" in the number of cases after the arrival of almost all athletes qualified for the Olympics.

The distribution to the quarantine hotels is “an organizational problem”, said Schimmelpfennig.

He recalled the situation of professional cyclist Simon Gäschke, who had to go into quarantine at the Summer Games in Tokyo in the summer.

"There was an improvement after a few days," said Schimmelpfennig.

However, the example of Gäschke was mentioned again and again before the games as something that shouldn't be repeated.

On Saturday morning in Zhangjiakou, a man who has known Eric Frenzel for 17 years also spoke about Eric Frenzel. Stefan Pecher, be team doctor. "I've never seen him mentally in a situation like this," he said in a press round. “Not in defeats, not in bad luck situations at World Cups or World Championships or Olympic Games. Mentally he was really exhausted.” Now that Frenzel has been able to talk to his family and his team, he is doing better. "He's on fire again," said Pecher. "He's pawing his hooves, he's still symptom-free."

However, that does not mean that Frenzel, who tested negative before departure in Germany and positive after arrival in China, can leave the quarantine hotel.

To do this, it must exceed a certain CT value.

Until then, unlike his teammate Terence Weber, who is allowed to isolate himself in the team accommodation because of a higher CT value, he will have to stay in the hotel where, according to Pecher, the situation was initially very bad.

When he saw Frenzel's first videos, he was amazed.

“Now he is much better taken care of.

We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that everything stays that way.”

The first Nordic Combined competition takes place on Wednesday.

Frenzel will not be able to start there.

After that he still has two chances.

On the 15th and 17th

February.

Its last ever?

"It will very likely be my last games," Frenzel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung before leaving.

He knew these games could get "more special".

Now, unfortunately, he knows what that can mean in China.