We are no longer the No. 1 winter sports nation!

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Odermatt dominance here, country classification there, downhill double gold there – from a Swiss perspective, the ski winter could hardly have gone better.

But a winter sports country was even stronger in all disciplines. When it comes to all the crystal balls won last winter, we are not number 1 for the first time in years. The Norwegians surpass us!

The competition from the far north is really taking off: in the winter of 2022/23 they will have 15 balls in FIS competitions. In cross-country skiing with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (2x), Heidi Weng and Pal Golberg, she won four overalls. But it makes the difference especially with ski freestylers. Thanks to Birk Ruud (3x) and Johanne Killi (2x), five of the six crystal balls are going to Norway. Meanwhile, the Swiss leave empty-handed: Andri Ragettli (2x), Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Höfflin (1x each) only finish second.

Swiss ski president Urs Lehmann does not like to talk about disappointment. “The entire Swiss Ski team can look back on an incredibly successful season,” he says. “Probably one of the most successful in the history of our association. Against this background we are very satisfied! That the Norwegians performed better than us speaks for them. I warmly congratulate them. This does not make us sad, but motivates us to work even harder. But it also shows that you can never rest on your laurels, because the others are not sleeping.”

The Swiss trek is actually still respectable, and this winter the Swiss got their hands on 13 crystal balls out of the snow. Most successful: ski superstar Marco Odermatt and telemark dominator Bastien Dayer, who both captured three crystal balls. With snowboard trump Julie Zogg and telemarker Martina Wyss, other Swiss women get two balls.

Biathlon surprises positively, ski jumping negatively

A bright spot for Lehmann, even without a ball: the young biathlon team, in which Niklas Hartweg, Sebastian Stalder and Amy Baserga have made great strides. «On the other hand, we certainly hoped for more in terms of ski jumping, especially in the first part of the winter. At the end of the season Gregor Deschwand showed good results and with Remo Imhof a newcomer attracted attention. I am convinced that the ski jumping team is capable of more and I am still happy that Simon Ammann is here and has shown very good performances again.”

And then there are also a number of second places: Lara Gut-Behrami (overall and giant World Championship), Wendy Holdener (slalom) and Nadine Fähndrich (cross-country sprint) had strong seasons, but eventually had to admit defeat in the general classification rankings. “All of the athletes mentioned have put in sensational performances this winter,” says Lehmann. “Wendy Holdener and Nadine Fähndrich, for example, were better than ever. Whether you finish first or second can also be related to luck, the state of the day or the weather, as the example of Nadine Fähndrich impressively demonstrates. In the last race, the Swedes showed their strength as a team. But it does show that these athletes are among the absolute best in the world and that it can very well tilt to their side. »

Source : Blick