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Felix Gottwald is considered one of the strongest cross-country skiers among the combiners, and was able to achieve a total of 23 World Cup victories. Facebook
Vienna

Austrian sports legend says he is ‘ashamed of the government’

Courageous people who oppose discrimination against the unvaccinated and division in society still exist. At the risk, or rather the certainty of being the target of defamation and exclusion, Felix Gottwald has spoken up.

Published: November 16, 2021, 8:12 am

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    When international German movie star Til Schweiger reminded his audiences that he daughter now suffers from narcolepsy because of an earlier mass vaccination experiment against swine flu with the untested drug Pandemrix, he was humiliated and defamed, including being called an “asshole” on German public broadcaster ARD.

    Gottwald, Austria’s most successful Olympic athlete and until most recently head of Bundes-Sport GmbH, resigned from his lucrative job to protest against the Austrian government’s tyrannical Corona policy.

    Felix Gottwald is a former Austrian Nordic combined athlete. With three gold, one silver and three bronze medals, he is the most successful athlete in Austrian Olympic history . In total, he won 18 medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships. Facebook

     

    “With three gold, one silver and three bronze medals, the former Nordic combined athlete is Austria’s most successful Olympic athlete in history,” the heute.at portal described Gottwald. “In spring 2021 he was appointed chairman of the national sports committee in federal sports GmbH. But he has now walked out because he is not satisfied with the government’s Corona policy – especially with Vice Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kogler.”

    In an open letter on Facebook the athlete from Salzburg noted: “There may be a lot going on in our country, but certainly not about the health and well-being of the Austrians and the people living in Austria – and that in the midst of the greatest health crisis. Division, agitation, discrimination – these are the government imperatives of the hour.”

    Gottwald clearly does not agree with the arbitrary Corona rules. In his letter he also writes: “As a demonstrably healthy person who uses sensible and reasonable measures to contain the pandemic in a very responsible manner, I am now, like millions of others, excluded from social life and thus from life that is full of sport.”

    Gottwald challenged Kogler: “As Sports Minister, it is up to you to set levers in motion that promote and not prevent exercise and (popular) sport in what is probably the greatest health crisis of our time. How far are you ready to go? And: How far are you as a government ready to go?”

    Gottwald declared that he has lost all confidence in politics. On social media, the most successful Austrian Olympic athlete is celebrated once again as a “hero”.

    “I am deeply ashamed of our country and as an Austrian I am angry, sad and disconcerted at the same time. I’ve lost all confidence in politics and, with the best of intentions, I can’t think of any arguments why I should believe a syllable of it. The type of discourse within politics, the choice of words, the incongruence, the disregard that reaches me as a responsible citizen and taxpayer, irritate me deeply and would probably drive any company in the private sector into ruin immediately.”

    In his hard-hitting open letter, he added: “As Austria’s most successful Olympic athlete, I have often lost and only rarely won. As an athlete, I have learned to deal with defeat and failure, to learn from them, to develop myself further and to treat myself and others with respect and dignity. I currently miss these virtues entirely on the part of politicians.”

    Gottwald said he had been convinced that Austria “had learned from history” but was now “shocked to find that we as a society have become more presumptuous, ruthless and discriminatory than I have ever seen before”.

    Austrian Army Union joins mass protest

    After FPÖ chief Herbert Kickl called for a mass protest on November 20 in Vienna, the Federal Army Union (FGÖ ) has now joined in a letter published on November 14. It wants to stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms. The union expressly pointed out that anyone and everyone can demonstrate – even during lockdown since the demonstration cannot be banned.

    The federal army union expects that the police will be “cooperative” and that there will be no escalations. The chairman of the Social Democratic Union (FSG) group in the police union, Hermann Greylinger, left no doubt in an interview that the police are currently unable to carry out Corona controls.

    The President of the Federal Armed Forces Union FGÖ, Manfred Haidinger stated on behalf of his union that they would take part in the demonstration for fundamental and civil rights on November 20 in Vienna and that no one should fear reprisals.

    “We hereby make it clear that participation in meetings is a particularly protected legal asset and has also been taken into account in the current draft ordinance”. Participation and travel from all over Austria are permitted. “The ban on a gathering registered by citizens as well as the prohibition of a party rally has been ruled as illegal,” Haidinger explained. The reason for this are judgments by the Vienna Administrative Court. “There is no longer any possibility of appeal against the judgments. They are therefore trend-setting for the right of assembly as a whole.”

    Doctors harshly enforce vaccine sales

    Medical Association President Thomas Szekeres told the ORF press hour on November 14, that compulsory vaccination must be “forced on” the population: “I mean, it’s a question of whether you tie someone down and then give them the injection.” During the press hour, he once again excelled as a model propagandist. He explicitly advocated “that unvaccinated people also have massive disadvantages in their job”.

    His deputy, Harald Mayer, has also been aggressively stirring up panic with the “fourth wave” allegedly rolling in. Mayer sees compulsory vaccination as well as a lockdown for everyone happening before Christmas.

    Austrian Health Minister Mückstein has meanwhile announced lockdowns. And the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Baden-Württemberg in Germany recommended that its contracted doctors resort to non-treatment for the unvaccinated.

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