GERMAN ROWER Nadja Drygalla is to leave the Olympic village in London, the country’s Olympic committee said today, after press reports that her boyfriend was a member of a far-right group.
“Today the management of the German Olympic committee received information about the private associates of the rower Nadja Drygalla,” the head of the delegation Michael Vesper said in a statement.
Advertisement
Rowing officials spoke to the athlete, who affirmed her commitment to the “Olympic ideals” but at the same time revealed that she “planned to quit the Olympic village so as not to be a burden on the team”, Vesper added. According to the German media, the rower is the girlfriend of a regional official of the NPD, an openly neo-Nazi political movement in the northern city of Rostock.
One local radio station, NDR, added that he was a regular contributor to the movement’s Internet site and he belonged to a group called “National Socialist Rostock”.
No doubts
Vesper reiterated at a news conference in London today that he had “no doubts” that the sportswoman “respected the fundamental values of the (German) constitution and the Olympic values” and in theory was not at risk of any sanction.
“If she confirms that she has nothing to do with (the far-right), why shouldn’t she continue (to compete for Germany)?” he said. ”We shouldn’t condemn her in advance. For us, there has never been any indication to make us think that these accusations are true. In Germany, thankfully, you’re only responsible for your own actions, not the company you keep.”
Drygalla, 23, was a member of the German eight but the team was eliminated in the repechage stage. Her relationship with the far-right militant was already known, according to German media, as it was the reason for her resignation from the police service last year.
Since the start of the Olympics in London, the Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou and the Swiss footballer Michel Morganella were both sent home by their Olympic committees following racist posts on Twitter.
“no doubts” that the sportswoman “respected the fundamental values of the (German) constitution and the Olympic values” .. Liar, liar, Panzer fire. She should putsch her money wehr her macht is and get Goerring, at least there’ll be more liebensraum in the canoe.
How can people be guilty of anything by association….This whole PC Liberalism is getting ridiculous…The pathetic Liberals are getting way too much airplay…!!!
That was a Nazi rule, they had everyone guilty by association and had them either shot or imprisoned. For the Olympics comittee to bring this up and put pressure on her is disgraceful. Yet another mark against these London Olympics..!!!!
How can you ask a question and replace the use of a ? with several exclamation marks?
It seems too much, but this athlete has taken it on themselves to stand down from the team – I think their position isn’t a flattering one but then, she has given up a lot previously due to her links with this boyfriend. Maybe she has decided that she does side with him and to defend a position as being guilty by association would expose that she is.
Of course that’s speculation on why she has decided not to defend her position but the fact remains, she has stepped down from her place – not been forced out.
I agree with you completely. Another thing I didn’t see coming. Pretty much any person with Irish descendants knows of a family member, probably long passed away, who was actively involved in the IRB/IRA. They probably also have a relation who was a priest or nun. This doesn’t mean that they are IRA supporters or supporters of the Church. I like your ranting. But it makes me happy that you can make sensible comments as well.
So does the spotlight not shine on athletes with extreme left affiliations? They the good guys? I mean even looking at history’s murder scoreboard…. reds like Uncle Joe are not exactly found wanting.
I really hate sarcastic crap like “nice try” and troll calling. If you really think someone’s a troll don’t respond to them.
Frankly he has a point, history has proven the extreme left are just as dangerous as the extreme right (the hint is in the name: “extreme”). Just because the communists weren’t as useful a propaganda tool as the Nazis doesn’t erase the enormous amount of harm they did to millions of people. People should think twice about describing themselves as communist given the history of the word.
I’m a radical leftist, I stand for equality and democracy and workers’ emancipation. What you’re forgetting is that Stalin, Mao, none of those people were actually left-wing at all. The extreme-right breed hatred and pit people against each other. The extreme left don’t. You just like to pretend or want to pretend they have done or do. Your analysis of history is Junior Cert level at best. If I call myself an alien would you believe I’m from another planet too?
The problem, Martin, is that there’s a far too much shifting of the goal-posts in defining what radical or extreme left-wing ideologies are. You say that Stalin or Mao weren’t left-wing, but others say there were. If we’re relying on subjective definitions and opinions rather than fact, than everything is effectively meaningless. I can say that Enda Kenny is actually an anarchist. Why is that true? Because I say so! How is he an anarchist? Because he is destabilising the political apparatus and promoting distrust in centralised representative democracy. He only appears to be an incompetent moderate right-winger. You see? I don’t mean for this to only apply to you, this subjectivity is rampant in what you say and in what many of your opponents say. But it damages your argument. Mao and Stalin came to power under a communist flag, and communism is a left-wing ideology. Just because they did terrible, undemocratic and inhumane things does not cancel out the fact that they came from the left.
I dont agree with this guilty by association. Unless this girl voiced opinions that damaged the olympics I think this goes too far. All they have done is given people like her neo nazi friend fuel for his distorted views. Are we any different than these groups by casting her out. As we have learned in Ireland in particular that engaging even with the most extreme groups brings about a better result. To me this is just abuse of power.
This is ridiculous, she’s not the neo-nazi, he is. She’s there to pull an oar for goodness sake, not have the political background of her boyfriend examined. I can completely understand banning athletes if they use their position to push a hateful political message (like wearing a swastika onto the pitch), but that’s not what she was doing.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey wins Six Nations player of the championship
1 hr ago
13
FreeUpdate
Ireland assistant coach to miss Greece double-header due to passport issue
1 hr ago
0
sent off
Munster set to appeal against Alex Nankivell's red card
21 hrs ago
38
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Wow, I did nazi that happening…
Nazi puns are not funny Anne Frankly shouldn’t be allowed!
Your comments are taking me out of mein kampfort zone.
I’ll let you know that I happen to find these comments very offensive, a relative of mine died in the camps….. He fell from the guard tower
Somethings not reich about this. She should Adolph a better attitude. Eva go for a Braunz
“no doubts” that the sportswoman “respected the fundamental values of the (German) constitution and the Olympic values” .. Liar, liar, Panzer fire. She should putsch her money wehr her macht is and get Goerring, at least there’ll be more liebensraum in the canoe.
I believe in equality for all. I’d be prepared to giz eveybodiez a fair crack of ze whip
If its guilt by association I wonder how many other athletes have skeletons in their closets………
If you are committed to the ideals of the olympics then you wouldn’t be with a neo nazi. The two things aren’t compatable.
Yeah sure they aren’t. Maybe you should look up a bit of Olympic history. Where did the torch run come from?
that was then, this is now Barry
Barry Godwin O’Neill, the Nazis did not invent the Olympics. They used it.
Don’t leave us hanging Barry, where did the torch run come from?
How can people be guilty of anything by association….This whole PC Liberalism is getting ridiculous…The pathetic Liberals are getting way too much airplay…!!!
That was a Nazi rule, they had everyone guilty by association and had them either shot or imprisoned. For the Olympics comittee to bring this up and put pressure on her is disgraceful. Yet another mark against these London Olympics..!!!!
How can you ask a question and replace the use of a ? with several exclamation marks?
It seems too much, but this athlete has taken it on themselves to stand down from the team – I think their position isn’t a flattering one but then, she has given up a lot previously due to her links with this boyfriend. Maybe she has decided that she does side with him and to defend a position as being guilty by association would expose that she is.
Of course that’s speculation on why she has decided not to defend her position but the fact remains, she has stepped down from her place – not been forced out.
PO, you’re not only passing up an opportunity to slag off Germans, you’re defending one? Frankly, I’m impressed. I didn’t see that coming.
NK doesn’t matter the nationality. Its the pressure applied to quit because of someone else’s beliefs…!!!
I agree with you completely. Another thing I didn’t see coming. Pretty much any person with Irish descendants knows of a family member, probably long passed away, who was actively involved in the IRB/IRA. They probably also have a relation who was a priest or nun. This doesn’t mean that they are IRA supporters or supporters of the Church. I like your ranting. But it makes me happy that you can make sensible comments as well.
So does the spotlight not shine on athletes with extreme left affiliations? They the good guys? I mean even looking at history’s murder scoreboard…. reds like Uncle Joe are not exactly found wanting.
Saying you’re communist does not auto-matically entail hate and a violent ethos. Neo-Nazi does. Comprende?
Good try Gary, good try. All the trolls salute you :)
I really hate sarcastic crap like “nice try” and troll calling. If you really think someone’s a troll don’t respond to them.
Frankly he has a point, history has proven the extreme left are just as dangerous as the extreme right (the hint is in the name: “extreme”). Just because the communists weren’t as useful a propaganda tool as the Nazis doesn’t erase the enormous amount of harm they did to millions of people. People should think twice about describing themselves as communist given the history of the word.
I’m a radical leftist, I stand for equality and democracy and workers’ emancipation. What you’re forgetting is that Stalin, Mao, none of those people were actually left-wing at all. The extreme-right breed hatred and pit people against each other. The extreme left don’t. You just like to pretend or want to pretend they have done or do. Your analysis of history is Junior Cert level at best. If I call myself an alien would you believe I’m from another planet too?
The problem, Martin, is that there’s a far too much shifting of the goal-posts in defining what radical or extreme left-wing ideologies are. You say that Stalin or Mao weren’t left-wing, but others say there were. If we’re relying on subjective definitions and opinions rather than fact, than everything is effectively meaningless. I can say that Enda Kenny is actually an anarchist. Why is that true? Because I say so! How is he an anarchist? Because he is destabilising the political apparatus and promoting distrust in centralised representative democracy. He only appears to be an incompetent moderate right-winger. You see? I don’t mean for this to only apply to you, this subjectivity is rampant in what you say and in what many of your opponents say. But it damages your argument. Mao and Stalin came to power under a communist flag, and communism is a left-wing ideology. Just because they did terrible, undemocratic and inhumane things does not cancel out the fact that they came from the left.
I dont agree with this guilty by association. Unless this girl voiced opinions that damaged the olympics I think this goes too far. All they have done is given people like her neo nazi friend fuel for his distorted views. Are we any different than these groups by casting her out. As we have learned in Ireland in particular that engaging even with the most extreme groups brings about a better result. To me this is just abuse of power.
She wasn’t cast out….
Gagsy you say she wasnt cast out. Do you not think pressure was put on her to go. I view this as being cast out.
I don’t know – I don’t think the article says one way or the other.
This is ridiculous, she’s not the neo-nazi, he is. She’s there to pull an oar for goodness sake, not have the political background of her boyfriend examined. I can completely understand banning athletes if they use their position to push a hateful political message (like wearing a swastika onto the pitch), but that’s not what she was doing.
But she wasn’t banned…..
Maybe you could say he was “Reich-Wing” http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dvesg_8VK2s/0.jpg