2023-08-17 19:01:00
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The heyday of multisport events like the Bernese Inferno Triathlon is over. But not for the Baumgartners.
It is considered one of the most demanding competitions in Switzerland: the Inferno Triathlon in the Bernese Oberland. The athletes have to overcome 5,500 meters in altitude and 155 kilometers on the route from Lake Thun to the Schilthorn – by swimming, on racing bikes, by mountain bike and on foot.
Legend: The Inferno Triathlon starts at Lake Thun and leads up to the Schilthorn. Keystone/Alessandro della Valle
On Saturday the Inferno Triathlon will take place for the 25th time. And for the 25th time, 49-year-old Beat “Bidu” Baumgartner from Mirchel in the Bernese Emmental will be there. He is the only athlete who has started and finished every edition.
Every year there comes a moment when I ask myself why I’m paying for the entry fee.
Of course this is not. “Every year I end up in a hole during the competition,” says Beat Baumgartner. You always ask yourself why you paid an entry fee. But suddenly you are out of the hole once more and the world looks better once more.
Multisport events are no longer so popular
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Legend: The boom in multisport events is over. Keystone/Luke Lehmann
The 333 starting places at this year’s Inferno Triathlon are not sold out. It was different at the turn of the millennium, says OC President Kaspar Grünig: “The starting places were quickly gone back then.” The sports world has changed in the meantime, multi-sport events are no longer in demand.
For example, the Gigathlon, founded in 1998, took place for the last time last year. According to the organizers, the event might no longer be financed.
Daughter Leonie Baumgartner got a taste of competition at a very young age: she crossed the finish line of the Inferno Triathlon on the Schilthorn at the age of one – on her father’s shoulders.
Legend: Leonie Baumgartner has a better time than Dad Beat Baumgartner at the Inferno Triathlon. SRF/Leonie Marti
So she had almost no choice but to get used to the competition.
Fixed point in the family agenda
“The Inferno Triathlon is a fixed point in our family agenda,” says the 22-year-old. With her mother and five brothers, she was always rooting for her father. She was never annoyed. “Fortunately, the weather was mostly good.”
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Legend: Beat Baumgartner when he first took part in the Inferno Triathlon in 1999. ZVG/Beat Baumgartner
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Legend: At the finish, Beat is welcomed by his children. Here in 2010. ZVG/alpha photo
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Legend: Leonie (left) ran away from her father in 2013. ZVG/alpha photo
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Legend: Spoke broken, wheel has to be pushed: In 2015, Beat Baumgartner only made it to the finish line with luck. ZVG/Beat Baumgartner
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Legend: Daughter Leonie has also been at the start since 2019. ZVG/alpha photo
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Legend: “Without my wife Heidi, I would never have been able to take part 24 times,” says Beat Baumgartner. ZVG/Remy Steinegger
In 2019 Leonie Baumgartner started alone at the Inferno Triathlon for the first time – just on her 18th birthday. Participation in the ultra competition as a solo athlete is only permitted from the age of 18. “It was a brilliant day that I will never forget,” says Leonie.
Daughter now faster than father
At the first competition together, Leonie crossed the finish line behind Beat. In the meantime she has overtaken her father. “It’s actually a better feeling that Leonie is in front,” says Beat Baumgartner. For example, he might help her with a bike breakdown.
It would be nice if we might cross the finish line together.
Leonie is happy that she beat her father’s time. But there is still a dream: to cross the finish line on the Schilthorn together, but this time not on the shoulders of the father, but in sports clothes. But Beat Baumgartner laughs: «I think this dream will no longer come true. I’m only going to slow down.”
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