It’s true these are the worst of times for Boris Becker, now visibly condemned by both his country of birth and his country of residence. But will it be all it takes to erase a historic legacy?
The enduring myth around Boris Becker – that you can achieve your goals if you have a strong will and fighting spirit – continues to inspire generations of sportspeople around the world. It’s true that with the successes of Becker (and Graf) paved the way for what followed in German sport. … Above all, Becker contributed to the making of a modern German identity which helped it move past the holocaust. Since the end of the second world war, West Germany pursued a policy of low key, low visibility national identity. Becker was able to transcend this. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he became the symbol of a unified Germany. In all his transitions as a global sports icon from Germany, he did more for his country of birth than any sportsman in its history. In making the UK his home, he was simply running away from the often-toxic media scrutiny of his life in Germany as a national icon.
Today, he is in a prison cell, and can no longer run away – from ignominy and massive debts. But to Boris Franz Becker, the sports star, the world, particularly his country of birth, still owes many debts. Read more here.
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