2012 London Summer Olympics

Days after a German Olympic rower was ejected from the Games Village on suspicion that her boyfriend was part of a "far-right" group that allegedly attacked a police personnel, investigations opened as to how she became a part of the Games contingent.

Rower Nadja Drygalla was sent back from London the day it was reported that her boyfriend, Michael Fischer, had allegiance with a neo-Nazi political party --- the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).

The prosecutor in the northern city of Rostock was quoted as saying that a probe had been launched after media reports suggested that Drygalla's boyfriend was a member of the NPD. However, the 23-year-old rower had claimed before she was ejected from the Games Village that her boyfriend had nothing to do with the extreme-right party.

On her part, Drygalla also said that she abhorred racism and extremism, and that she stood for all Olympic values, but fearing a strong backlash in Britain, the German Olympic committee officials thought it prudent to send the rower back.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor was quoted as saying by newspapers police were investigating if Fischer was one of the 30 masked men who went on the rampage in February, disrupting a memorial ceremony organized to remember the victims of a neo-Nazi group accused of killing 10 people.

The attackers had come armed with iron rods and a senior police officer was grievously injured in the skirmish. "It is suspected that Fischer was present in the group," the spokesperson was quoted as telling the media. She added that the involvement of more than a dozen people was being probed.

Fischer, also an active functionary of the local far-right group, National Socialist Rostock, had quit the NPD in May this year, though rumors are that he continued to maintain his links.

Drygalla was part of the eight-member German team that got eliminated in repechage.

German and British media had reported during the ongoing Games that Drygalla had served in the police before quitting in 2011 because of her ties with Fischer.

 

 

Probe Opened into German Rower After Boyfriend Ejected from Games