Et is this very special smell: linoleum floor coverings, with abrasion from shoes; the musty leather of the bucks; the cold sweat from the changing rooms. It’s the noises: squeaky shoes, the thump of a medicine ball, the teacher’s whistle. But most of all it is the atmosphere of physical education. There are impressions that stick with you for a long time, especially when they are linked to haunting memories. Possibly for a lifetime.
Sport was and is a tricky school subject for many people. In the best case, it sparks joy in movement, awakens ambition and team spirit. When things go badly, the lessons are experienced as humiliation and exposure. Weekly hours in which stamina is not tested in endurance sports, but in the ability to complete the tasks despite the shame. Thanks to team sports and athletics, it emerges which students don’t really belong.