Dario Cologna will play his fourth Olympic Games in Beijing, Simon Ammann his seventh. These two exceptional athletes were selected by Swiss Olympic for the Winter Games, as were 76 other athletes from the following sports: ski jumping, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating, freestyle skiing, biathlon and snowboarding.
1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022: now selected by Swiss Olympic, 40-year-old ski jumper Simon Ammann will compete in his seventh Games in Beijing. No other Swiss athlete has achieved so many Olympic participations. In 2002 in Salt Lake City and in 2010 in Vancouver, Ammann had won two gold medals each time, winning both small and large hills. “Simon Ammann is an exceptional figure in Swiss sport and we are very happy to welcome him to the Swiss Olympic Team for the seventh time,” said Ralph Stöckli, Chef de Mission who heads the Swiss Olympic Selection Commission.
In addition to Simon Ammann, the commission also selected – at the request of Swiss-Ski – his teammates Killian Peier (third at the 2019 world championships), Gregor Deschwanden and Dominik Peter for the Beijing Winter Games.
Ralph Stöckli’s words of praise for Ammann also have them for Dario Cologna. In Beijing, the quadruple Olympic champion in cross-country skiing will compete in his fourth Olympic Games, as he prepares to end his magnificent career. Graubünden, Swiss flag bearer at the opening ceremony in PyeongChang in 2018, will thus be the leader of the Swiss cross-country skiing team, currently composed of twelve members (five women, seven men). Other athletes will still join this list on January 24th.
In biathlon, Lena Häcki, Benjamin Weger and Joscha Burkhalter will represent Switzerland in Beijing. In addition, a women’s relay, a men’s relay and a mixed relay will also be entered. The other biathletes who will travel to China will be known on January 24.
Freestyle skiers Sarah Höfflin and Mathilde Gremaud will take part in the Olympic Games for the second time. Geneva’s Höfflin was crowned Olympic slopestyle champion in PyeongChang. The Fribourgeoise Gremaud had won the silver medal in the same discipline.
In total, the Swiss freestyle ski team currently comprises twelve athletes, including Andri Ragettli (Slopestyle/Big Air) and Noé Roth (Aerials), as well as Marco Tadé (Moguls) and Rafael Kreienbühl (Halfpipe).
At the request of Swiss-Ski, Swiss Olympic has also selected 18 athletes in the various snowboarding disciplines. Among them are the Olympic champion of PyeongChang 2018, Nevin Galmarini (alpine), Patrizia Kummer (Olympic champion 2014) as well as Julie Zogg and Ladina Jenny, who took second and third places in the world cup event in Scuol early January.
In freestyle skiing and snowboarding, a second selection date is also scheduled for January 24.
Livio Wenger (speed skating) will participate in his second Games after those of PyeongChang 2018. The Lucerne was selected with his sister Nadja Wenger. The latter will participate in the Olympics for the first time.
After PyeongChang, figure skater Alexia Paganini will compete in her second Games. Compared to four years ago, however, the Swiss will have a teammate by her side: skater Lukas Britschgi will make his first Olympic appearance in China.