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PicturedBirgit Fischer (left) leads Germany’s K4 canoe sprint team at the Olympic Games Athens 2004WHAT THE OLYMPIC GAMES MEAN TO METhe Olympic Games, due to the kind of event that it is – the coming together of all people and religions, the peaceful togetherness – are simply magnificent. When you’ve experienced this – and you don’t have to experience it six times like me to remember – you will never forget it. Sitting in the Olympic Village in the canteen, meeting up with other athletes; it’s just tremendous. It’s one big athletic world family. It’s a beautiful example for how the world could be. WHY THE GAMES ARE UNIQUEFrom the very first time I took part in the Olympic Games, in 1980, I was aware of the importance of the Olympic values. You become aware of those values automatically as soon as you set foot in the Olympic Village – you just feel it, you understand what’s going on there very quickly. It’s different to the world championships. I’d say the Olympic Games are particularly different [from other events] for the canoe racers, who don’t MY GAMESOLYMPIC REVIEW 73