Photo by Alfred Hermes: Distance at the award ceremony
Three days of exciting German Masters Championships at a high level under Corona condititions in pentathlon and weight throwing. The champinships took place from August 21 to August 23 in Zella-Mehlis (Thuringia/GER). The local athletics club TSV Zella-Mehlis is very experienced in organizing athletics championships.
The corona virus protocols included distance rules and hygiene measures for athletes, referees, volunteers, coaching and media representatives to be followed.
Award Ceremony
For example, the award ceremony was as follows:
- Only 3 medals at a time were distanced out on a table.
- One staff member was allocated to replenish the medals.
- Medals could be collected by lifting one medal off the table.
At a social distance, the athletes picked up their medals and diplomas from a table and went to their podium for the award ceremony. An announcer moderated the ceremony by presenting the athletes and their results via microphone from a sufficient distance.
Success Due to Excellent Preparation and Implementation
The great success of the championships, which have been extended to three days, is due to the organisers, who had prepared themselves excellently for the new situation caused by the pandemic. The volunteers and judges convinced with their professional competence and paid attention to a friendly, polite but consistent implementation of the infection prevention measures. Many athletes expressed their heartfelt thanks for the responsible and careful planning and execution of the championships. They would have felt safe and secure in the face of the pandemic and would have been able to perform to their full potential due to the excellent conditions and venues.
The Vice President of the German Athletics Association (DLV), Dr. Matthias Reick, summarised: “A lot of the 253 participants from 149 clubs expressed their gratitude to DLV and the organizing team of Zella-Mehlis for this well organized championship. We are all very thankful that all participants were very understanding and followed the given restrictions under the Covid19 protocol and still showed exellent performances. This gives us hope for the competition year of 2021.”
“The amount of work was enormous and cannot be described in words nor hours,” summed up Günter Karl, head of the athletics division of TSV Zella-Mehlis.
Facilitation for the Organisers and Promoters
Due to the success of the championships and the recognition of the participants, the organisers felt confirmed after the extreme effort and trouble in the preparation. The preparation involved not only the preparation of the competition venues, but also the development of corona virus protocols, persuasion in the relevant association, in politics and finally in the public health department.
To the results: https://ergebnisse.leichtathletik.de/Competitions/Details/3550
A.H