German Athlete Leaves Olympics `Over Neo Nazi Boyfriend Rumours`
Baku, August 4 (AZERTAC). A German athlete has left the Olympic games voluntarily after reports emerged about alleged neo-Nazi links.
Rower Nadja Drygalla left the games after a discussion about her "private life" with head of the German team Michael Vesper.
The German Olympic Committee said in a statement Drygalla decided to leave of her own accord after a "detailed and intense conversation to avoid creating a burden” on her team.
“Ms Drygalla declared at the end of our conversation that she would leave the Olympic village in order not to be a burden for the Olympic team. The German Rowing Association welcomes this decision,” he said.
The decision came after rumours in the German press the 23-year-old athlete was in a relationship with a member of Germany`s far-right National Democratic Party (NDP).
Siegfried Kaidel, head of the German Rowing Association, said the athlete had "affirmed several times that she had nothing to do with the far-right scene.”
According to German newspaper >Die Welt the controversy over Drygalla`s relationship meant she had been forced to quit her position as a trainee police officer.
Drygalla, who was a member of the women`s eight rowing crew, had finished competing in the Games after her team were knocked out.
The athlete lists her hobbies as meeting friends, movies, and rowing on the London2012 website.
A German Olympic Committee spokesperson, when asked about the rumours about her neo-Nazi links, directed The Huffington Post UK to their official statement.
The controversy comes after a Greek Olympic athlete was expelled from the national Olympic team for `racist` remarks on Twitter.
Triple jump champion Voula Papachristou had travelled to London with the Greek team, but caused a storm on Twitter with offensive comments on African immigrants to Greece.
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