When it comes to sports, the district town does not splash out: the indoor pool and the forest sports park in Ebersberg are currently being renovated or renewed – and next year international athletes will be training there. As Mayor Ulrich Proske (independent) has now announced, Ebersberg will accommodate athletes from the Special Olympics in 2023.
The inclusive sports event will take place in Berlin next year, from June 17th to 25th people with mental disabilities and multiple disabilities will compete in the competitions. Not only is a half-round anniversary celebrated – the Special Olympics took place for the first time in 1968 – it is also a premiere: for the very first time in its 55-year history, the international version of the games will take place in Germany.
The sports facilities will also be renovated by 2023
But before the athletes compete against each other in the capital, they will spend a few days getting to know their host country. For this purpose, the delegations will be distributed among a total of 216 so-called “host towns”, numerous municipalities had applied as such. Just like Ebersberg – but without much hope of getting a chance, as the mayor says. This week, however, the promise came that the district seat will accommodate a delegation, from June 12th to 15th of the coming year the athletes will get to know Ebersberg and prepare for the games in Berlin.
Proske thinks that this fits in well with the plans of the district seat, because by then the indoor pool should have been completely renovated and the new changing room and grandstand building at the forest sports park should have been built. So Ebersberg is definitely well prepared – because it is not yet known which sport the guests practice. You will also be surprised by which country the athletes come from and how many there are. It is expected that around ten to twelve athletes and their supervisors will come to Ebersberg.
The 1972 Olympics did not reach the county seat
In addition to preparing for the competitions, it is expressly about the guests “getting to know the country and its people”, as the organizers put it. The mayor says that Ebersberg wants to offer both training opportunities and insights into the host country. Among others, the TSV Ebersberg, for the sporting side, and the facility association Steinhöring, whose expertise will be useful in questions of inclusion, will be there. “We create a supporting program,” says Proske, “the guests should feel comfortable with us.”
This is what the Ebersberg indoor pool should look like after the renovation, the orange and white tiled mosaic on the wall is reminiscent of the 1972 Olympics.
(Photo: City of Ebersberg/oh)
The accommodation of international Olympians would also be a premiere for Ebersberg. It is true that athletes visited the district during the Olympic Games 50 years ago and also trained here. The swimmers practiced, for example, in the then brand new Grafinger outdoor pool, the riders even competed in Poing after they received a visit from Prince Philip of England at their quarters – however, the Olympics did not come to the district town. At least not directly, although the games have also left their mark there: the Ebersberg indoor pool was designed in the same color scheme as the Olympic sports facilities in the state capital – and now, 50 years later and freshly renovated, athletes from an international Olympic event can train there invite.