Switzerland has the chance to win another medal in alpine skiing this Saturday in the team event. But what is its value? Our journalists launch the debate.
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The Team event is this Saturday in Yanqing.
Yes: Sylvain Bolt
“If the event had no place in the Olympics, it will be boycotted by the athletes. But this is not the case, far from it!
Firstly, the Team Event will give Switzerland the opportunity to win this famous fifteenth medal, just to satisfy the chef de mission Ralph Stöckli. And to allow the entire Swiss delegation to return home with the feeling of accomplishment. This argument alone should be enough to convince you, right?
Switzerland has a title to defend in this discipline which made its appearance four years ago in South Korea. And frankly, the images of communion between the six athletes were a pleasure to see. Alpine skiing is an individual sport but practiced as a team.
“It’s a race that closes the loop in style and it’s a special feeling to fight with each other for your country”, perfectly illustrates Wendy “Goldener”. Like the nations ranking, this Team Event medal has more symbolic value. The metal should therefore not be considered individually.
If the event had no place in the Olympics, it will be boycotted by the athletes. But this is not the case, far from it! Team USA will be led by Mikaela Shiffrin, Austria by Olympic revelation Johannes Strolz, France by Pinturault, Faivre and Worley and Italy by Brignone, Bassino or de Aliprandini. They are real “dreams teams”! And even without Odermatt, Switzerland will look great, with its safe bet Wendy Holdener, Camille Rast or Justin Murisier, who has not gone far from his first Olympic medal in Beijing.
The Team Event also gives athletes the opportunity to “save” their Olympic Games (Pinturault, Shiffrin) as a team, but also to younger elements, such as the talent Camille Rast, to afford a first Olympic medal. The prospect of taking part in the Team Event has encouraged the skier from Vétroz to continue training this week on a giant scale on Chinese snow to prepare for this Saturday’s show.
Because the particular format of the Team Event, a parallel giant on a shortened track, has two other advantages. It offers a mixed event, which highlights the performances of both genders in a competition that is also attractive to viewers. The format is short, dynamic and easily understandable (direct elimination) for the uninitiated.
Non: Christian Maillard
“At the time of the awards, there she was Denise Feirabend, on the top step of the podium. Even Didier Cuche, even him, never had this honor at the Games!”
Do you remember Denise Feierabend? No? But yes, it’s this skier, blond, smiling, very nice moreover, who has never won a race in the World Cup, or even at the Games but who is all the same, hold on tight, Olympic champion. How it is not possible! Yes, yes, the slalom skier has a gold medal from the PyeongChang Olympics at home, in a prominent setting. Since she retired, she contemplates it regularly, talks regarding it to her friends, it brings back fond memories of a career also marked by a fourth place in the combined Worlds of Saint-Moritz in 2017.
That day, a day of glory for her in South Korea, the Obwalden, friend of the Gisin family, had still beaten a Hungarian in the Team Event before giving up her place. It took a great Wendy Holdener, a heroic Ramon Zenhäusern and a dynamic Daniel Yule to offer Switzerland this title so important for the medal classification. At the time of the awards, there she was Denise, on the top step of the podium, so happy to be there. Even Didier Cuche, even him, never had this honor at the Games!
So yes, some athletes love this drill because it’s a team competition, but frankly, what’s its value knowing that not all the best skiers are at the start? Or else Shiffrin or Pinturault will be there to save their Olympics and leave who knows with a nice gold medal, the same as Beat Feuz, Lara Gut-Behrami, Michelle Gisin or Corinne Suter, Marco Odermatt and Denise Feirabend, of course!
For me, this event no longer has its raison d’être at the Olympic Games, or at the Worlds.
