If the train’s about to leave...
You have just enough time to look back on the number of Swiss medals since 1896.
An impressive tally of
- 205 medals in total.
- 73 bronze,
- 79 silver
- and 53 gold
All aboard!
Seeing as you’ve still got five minutes until your train leaves...
You’ve got time to get to know The Swiss Olympic Team and Swiss Paralympic Team athletes, guess the sports that the country shines in and learn more about the Swiss Paralympic delegation.
At the top of the list of athletes to make Switzerland proud at several Olympic Games is
- George Miez. In 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936, this talented gymnast won no less than eight medals, including four gold. 🥇
- Eugen Mack comes in a very close second, in gymnastics again, at the Olympic Games Amsterdam 1928 and the Olympic Games Berlin 1936, also with eight medals to his name, including two gold.
- More recently, it was Fabian Cancellara’s turn to fire up the Swiss Olympic Team, with two Olympic gold titles at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and the Olympic Games Rio 2016. His sport? Time trial cycling.🚴♂️
💡 Do you know the answer?
Quick, get comfortable. Back to recent times. In 2021, Switzerland demonstrated its immense talent in a very specific discipline by collecting six medals at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Can you guess which discipline? The answer is waiting for you at the end of this article, we promise.
The Swiss Paralympic Team
On the Paralympic side, at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, not one, not two, not ten, but 14 medals were brought home. The podium of podiums for Swiss Paralympic disciplines looks like this:
- Athletics (with 12 medals, including seven gold) 🏃♂️
- Cycling (one very nice silver medal) 🚴♂️
- Swimming (one outstanding bronze medal) 🏊♀️
The last highest number of Paralympic medals for the Swiss delegation was at the Paralympic Games Athens 2004, with 16 medals for the Swiss Paralympic Team!
The athletes are no less impressive:
- Heinz Frei, with 15 gold medals and a spectacular career. His last medal? At age 54, at the Paralympic Games London 2012.
- Marcel Hug, also nicknamed the Swiss Silver Bullet, with 12 medals in long-distance running (marathons, in particular).
- The young Nora Meister is one to watch this year. The swimmer won a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 three years ago at just 18 years old.
Let’s go! Back to three years ago, to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020
(We can cross the ages by train, too!)
The last medal won by the Swiss Olympic Team in 2021, (or rather, the last medals) were gold, silver and bronze in mountain biking on 27 July 2021 at the end of a wild mountain bike cross-country event, which ended with a women’s hat-trick for the Swiss Olympic team:
- Gold for Jolanda Neff 🥇
- Silver for Sina Frei 🥈
- Bronze for Linda Indergand 🥉
You may have guessed it already, the discipline that made Switzerland shine in 2021 is cycling. 🚲
It would appear that the members of the Swiss Olympic Team are pretty fond of two-wheelers and have a good pedal stroke, with no less than six medals in the mountain bike disciplines – cross-country, BMX freestyle and road cycling, including a historic women’s hat-trick.
This bodes well for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this summer.
TGV Lyria is the official Partner of the Swiss Olympic Team and Swiss Paralympic Team and will be transporting the Swiss delegations to the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.
Pictures: Keystone-SDA