Winter Olympic Games 2010
"It's just like Christmas", 01/20/2010
Germany's Olympians have until February 5 to get kitted out at the military airbase in Erding. The athletes will be given some 60 items of clothing, shoes, bags and accessories for the Games, due to begin February 12, at twelve stalls in a large gymnasium. "It's just like Christmas," said short-track skater Aika Klein as she picked up compression stockings at the Bauerfeind stand.
The German Army has traditionally assisted the DOSB, the German Olympic Sports Confederation, in the logistical task of kitting out all nominated athletes as well as the support staff. In Erding 40 soldiers tirelessly assist in searching for the right articles of clothing, issuing trousers, jackets and T-shirts or perhaps passing over the shoehorn. What doesn't fit is made to fit: a tailor is on hand to make any necessary modifications. After one and a half to two hours, the Olympians leave the hall with the very best kit. They carry their booty in a large shopping cart. The athletes seem very satisfied: with the official team clothing in their luggage, they finally begin to feel a real part of the German Olympic team.
Some 150 athletes and about 200 support staff in total will be flying to the Winter Games in Vancouver. Bauerfeind is providing medical compression stockings for the flight. Those athletes who don't yet have a pair will have their legs measured in Erding by Bauerfeind staff, who will then find the suitable stockings. Most of the athletes are already familiar with using compression stockings from Zeulenroda, Thuringia. Speed skater Marco Weber even has his on. After all, he was sitting in his car for hours and wanted to ensure that the blood in his legs didn't clog up. Anyone - such as curler Melanie Robillard, for instance - who is taking part in the Olympics for the very first time - gets told just how the stockings work and how to put them on.
"Getting kitted out, that's just like Christmas," said Aika Klein as she came to Bauerfeind at stall 11 with her shopping cart full to the brim. The 27 year-old short track skater has now qualified for the Winter Olympics for the third time, after 2002 and 2006. She - just like the other athletes - is happy to get caught up in the positive "let's get going" mood in Erding.
The airbase in Erding had first been used as the kitting-out location in 2006, and it brought luck: the Germans were the most successful nation at the last Winter Games in Turin, carrying off eleven gold, twelve silver and six bronze medals. "It won't be easy, but we want to defend our number one spot", admitted Thomas Bach, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), as he wished the athletes on their way.
