Single German Olympic Team Possible in 1992

A top East German sports official has acknowledged for the first time that the two Germanys may be in a position to combine their powerful sporting talents into one team before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“It is possible that things will happen so fast that a joint team could come about by 1992, perhaps even earlier,” East German National Olympic Committee Vice President Georg Zorowka said at a World Cup swimming meet in Bonn.

Zorowka is a top figure in East German swimming, a sport that would be revolutionized by a joint German team.

He added today that the decision will depend on the outcome of elections in East Germany next month.

“This is something we sports people can only decide as voters in political elections. I believe we have to go carefully with such developments,” Zorowka said.

The elections are to decide a future government for the former communist state, whose power crumbled after a peaceful people’s uprising late last year.

Plans for political unification of the two countries are picking up pace by the day.

West German Olympic chief Willi Daume said a few days earlier that International Olympic Committee officials will not stand in the way of a combined German team and that it may happen in time for the Barcelona Games.