Söder champions Bavarian athletes and hints at Munich's Olympic ambitions
From the Campaign Trail to the Olympics: Markus Söder's Italian Detour
In the thick of Bavaria's local election campaign, Markus Söder made a quick detour to the Olympics. Just hours after firing up supporters back home with fiery rhetoric on Political Ash Wednesday—taking aim at the "red Heidi" and urging left-wing critics to leave Bavaria—he was already in Italy, soaking up the Olympic spotlight. What began with a whirlwind visit on Wednesday evening continued the next day with a flurry of social media activity. Luckily for Söder, there was soon a perfect photo opportunity to celebrate.
The day after Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek's surprise bronze in the cross-country skiing team sprint, Bavaria's minister-president was on hand to offer his congratulations. The timing couldn't have been better for Söder's social media strategy: both athletes hail from Oberstdorf, in the heart of Bavaria—a kind of "interstate fiscal equalization" through sport.
"A fantastic achievement by our two Allgäu natives. True role models," Söder wrote alongside a photo with Rydzek and Gimmler, which he shared across multiple platforms. Of course, the gesture wasn't entirely selfless—otherwise, he wouldn't have added a few extra lines. "Moments like these," he continued, are exactly why Germany should bid for the Olympics—"ideally in Munich."
In a later post, he clarified that the focus was on the Summer Games. Naturally, he'd already held talks with various sports officials, including Jørg Ammon, president of the Bavarian State Sports Association, who joined Söder in one of his signature selfies.
There was, however, one small blemish on Söder's Olympic visit. Despite his show of support for the Nordic combined team in Tesero's cross-country stadium, Johannes Rydzek and Vinzenz Geiger fell short of a medal in the team event. And so, Söder was denied another victorious snapshot for his feeds.
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