Soldier Odermatt Shines on Lauberhorn: The Remarkable Story of a Swiss Ski Champion in the Military

2024-01-15 03:44:38

Published15. January 2024, 04:44

Race in Wengen: Soldier Odermatt shines on the Lauberhorn during the WW

Marco Odermatt was unstoppable in Wengen. Meanwhile, he conducted the races in the Bernese Oberland in his WK.

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Seen here: Marco Odermatt and Federal President Viola Amherd.

freshfocus

Marco Odermatt is in the Swiss military.

BASPO

Or better said: Odermatt is a graduate of the top athlete RS.

BASPO

  • Marco Odermatt was in the WK during the Lauberhorn races.

  • 20 minutes explains how it works.

  • By the way, Odermatt has a military rank.

The Lauberhorn races became the big Odermatt show. He won the downhill on Thursday, he came second in the Super-G on Friday and Odi crowned himself with victory in the original downhill on Saturday. It was a dream come true for the Swiss ski star.

That was quite astonishing, because Odermatt is actually currently in the army’s WWII. I’m sorry, what? Odermatt takes part in a ski race during the repeat course? Yes, but that’s actually nothing special.

“Help from the federal government”

Odermatt is a graduate of the top athlete RS. This means: A few years ago, the ski athlete actually attended basic training in uniform.

But the repeat courses actually don’t have much to do with the army anymore. Kurt Henauer, head of media at the top sports RS, said when asked by 20 Minuten: “This is actually just the army’s pure support for top sports. Help from the federal government.” The soldiers can no longer be found in uniform.

At the award ceremony on Saturday, Marco Odermatt was thrown with a jacket.

SRF

Odermatt is not a simple soldier

The sports aces around Odermatt can also hold training camps and competitions during their WK. They are compensated with income compensation (EO) and salary. If the athlete decides to train in Magglingen or Tenero, food and accommodation will also be covered by the army. If it goes abroad, the association has to pay for it.

Incidentally, Swiss-Ski is the association with the most WK days. In 2023, a total of 873 athletes took part in top-level sport in the army; the share of Swiss-Ski was almost 30 percent. By the way: Odermatt is not a simple soldier. After the Olympic medal and the World Cup medals, he was promoted to private.

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