German rower Nadja Drygalla left her Olympic team on Friday after it was reported that she was in a relationship with a neo-Nazi from the city of Rostock.
Drygalla said that she left the team of her own accord, saying “I just wanted to take the burden off the team, who were still in the competition and had to concentrate on it,” reported The Local, citing an interview by a local news agency.
The 23-year-old rower said, “During the conversation and advice, I made the suggestion that I leave the Olympic village,” adding that the past few days were “rather stressful and rather surprising.”
She said German Olympic director Michael Vesper talked to her about her relationship with Michael Fischer, a known neo-Nazi who at one point ran as a candidate for the far-right National Democratic Party for parliament. However, it was reported that Fischer left the party earlier this year.
Drygalla said she persuaded Fischer to distance himself from his far-right affiliates. “My boyfriend hasn’t been a member of the NPD since May and has distanced himself from the whole thing,” she said, according to Reuters, citing local media.
It was learned by Der Spiegel magazine that the Interior Ministry of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania knew that Drygalla and Fischer were in a relationship and knew of Fischer’s ties to far-right groups. Interior Minister Lorenz Caffier was informed last year of the situation.
Dagmar Freitag, who heads the German Parliament’s sports committee, said officials will discuss “who knew what when” regarding Drygalla’s situation, according to the magazine.
Freitag said the issue should have been resolved before the London Games.
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