The Swiss Olympic delegation won significantly fewer medals in Paris than at the Tokyo Games three years ago. With less cantonal spirit, more could have been won.
European pole vault champion Angelica Moser puts in a strong performance in Paris, but it is not enough for her to win a medal.
Anthony Anex / Keystone
At the Summer Games in Tokyo three years ago, Switzerland felt like a sporting nation. The Swiss Olympic delegation won 13 medals. Switzerland had not achieved so many podium places at a Summer Games since 1952, and that was at a time when only amateur athletes were allowed to take part in the Olympics.
The first games after the pandemic are now taking place in Paris. The athletes are once again competing in front of spectators and at competition venues that showcase the sights of the French capital. The difference to Tokyo could hardly be greater, as Paris is celebrating the Olympics these weeks.
With three days of competition to go, the Swiss athletes have won 7 medals. As of Thursday evening, the haul is significantly smaller than in Tokyo. In addition, there was only one gold medal, won by the surprising shooter Chiara Leone. In Tokyo, Switzerland had 3 Olympic champions. Did Swiss Olympic fail in France?
Modern Olympic Games have long since lost all of their affinity with “taking part is everything”
This is the impression you might get: Swiss athletes are on target – but no more than that. Tokyo was an outlier, Paris is the norm. But this normality also includes many fourth places, of which Switzerland has already achieved eight in Paris.
To put things in perspective internationally, it is worth looking at Austria, which has a population comparable to Switzerland. The Austrians have only won gold once and bronze once.
Modern Olympic Games have long since lost nothing in common with the old motto “taking part is everything”. Even in fringe sports, the level has become so high that it takes a lot of training to even qualify for the Games – medals are even more difficult to achieve.
Even newer sports such as BMX or beach volleyball are becoming more and more professional. Swiss sport deserves credit for having held its own and stabilized itself in this competitive environment. In 2012, Switzerland won 4 medals in London, and since then it has always won at least 7.
Ralph Stöckli, the head of mission at Swiss Olympic, said in Paris: “If the dice had fallen differently, we could have won more medals. But it could also have been fewer.” With his statement, Stöckli was referring to the bad luck that the Swiss had here and there in Paris. In addition, Switzerland has a smaller talent pool compared to major sporting nations such as the USA, Great Britain or Germany – if the Swiss don’t win, there are hardly any potential successors. This was also evident in Paris.
The mountain bike race took place on a less demanding course, which was a disadvantage for the Swiss technical specialists. Judo world champion Nils Stump narrowly failed in the extra time of the round of 32. Noè Ponti missed the bronze medal in the 100 meter butterfly because of a botched start. Cyclist Marlen Reusser, who came second in the time trial in Tokyo, and mountain bike Olympic champion Jolanda Neff were absent due to illness. Switzerland cannot compensate for such losses.
The rule of thumb in sport, according to which at least three athletes with medal potential are needed to win a medal, proved true in Paris. The Swiss rowers made it into a final with four boats – the result was bronze for Roman Röösli and Andrin Gulich in the coxless pair. The women’s four, however, narrowly missed the medal by one meter – fourth place. Bad luck.
The magic word is: national performance center
Switzerland not only won 7 medals in Paris, but also 31 Olympic diplomas, 8 more than in Tokyo. The hard currency at the Olympics is the medals, everything else is quickly forgotten. However, the diplomas show how broadly positioned Switzerland is and how close they were to a podium place.
The performances in swimming and athletics are particularly remarkable. Mujinga Kambundji reached the Olympic final for the second time in a row, in the top discipline of the 100 meters. Pole vaulter Angelica Moser and long jumper Simon Ehammer came fourth. For decades, Olympic medals or other great achievements in these world sports were unthinkable. It took 37 years for swimmers Ponti and Jérémy Desplanches to reach the podium in Tokyo, and Roman Mityukov won another swimming medal in Paris.
Swiss sport has reached this level by professionalising the promotion of sport. Where necessary, the associations buy in foreign know-how; for example, among the rowers, the New Zealand coach Ian Wright is considered the architect of success.
A magic word, especially for small associations, is: national performance center. This is a base where the best in a sport find professional conditions and can compete in training with the strongest competitors in the country. There are such performance centers in rowing and shooting. This led to three medals for these two sports in Paris.
From Rössli-Stumpen to five Olympic medals
The Swiss Shooting Association is considered a prime example of the development of a fringe sport. In 2012 in London, no Swiss shooter made it into the top ten. This earned the athletes a magisterial reprimand. The then Minister of Sport, Ueli Maurer, said that the shooting team had not made a very professional impression on him. The only thing missing was the Rössli stump.
The shooters listened to the Federal Council and professionalized talent development, including the establishment of a performance center in 2016. The result is five Olympic medals won by Swiss shooters in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and now in Paris.
The army is also playing an increasing role in promoting sport. 18 top athletes receive a 50 percent position as temporary military personnel per Olympic cycle and have a certain degree of financial security. A study from 2018 shows that this is necessary, according to which the median salary of a Swiss summer athlete is only 40,000 francs. Federal Councilor Viola Amherd doubled the number of temporary military positions after taking office in 2018.
There is no alternative to the army
In Paris, 67 of the 128 Swiss participants completed the elite sports recruit school. These sports soldiers can later use the military refresher course as a paid training camp. The left sometimes complains that promoting elite sports is not the army’s job. In this context, the question is: does Switzerland even want to afford this elite sport? As long as the answer is yes, the military is the best institution for this task. This is also the case in neighboring countries.
In Paris, Switzerland has exploited the opportunities offered by foreign know-how, national performance centers and the army’s support for elite sports. If it wants to take another step forward, it is worth looking to the Netherlands.
The Netherlands has twice the population of Switzerland, but won about three times as many medals in Paris. The Dutch maintain a huge national performance center in Papendal. Athletes from all disciplines train there under one roof; there is an athletics stadium, riding facilities, sports halls and even a BMX track. Everyone benefits from the best sports doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists and athletic trainers in the country.
Federalism and cantonalism
Swiss sport, on the other hand, is organized on a federal basis, with historically evolved structures. Track and field athletes train in individual training groups spread across the entire country, as do swimmers, shooters in Biel and rowers in Sarnen. Others get in shape in Magglingen.
For the next step with more Olympic medals, centralization would have to become an issue in Swiss sport. With the OYM in Cham, there is a high-performance center with potential that was created on a private initiative. Swiss sport officials are skeptical, however, as to whether Switzerland is ready for such centralization; they see a cantonal mentality that is evident, among other things, in the high-performance centers scattered throughout the country.
And as long as federalism and cantonalism persist in Swiss sport, Olympic Games like the one in Paris with seven medals are a reality. If we manage to break down these structures, the track record could be improved.
