A medal in the mixed doubles grab bag

This is the third time that mixed doubles has been on the Winter Games program. Jenny Perret and Martin Rios represented Switzerland in the first two editions. The duo took silver at the premiere in 2018 and finished in 7th place four years ago.

This is the first Olympic Games for both 32-year-old Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann and 30-year-old Yannick Schwaller - the latter is also competing with the men's team. The two have competed together twice at the World Championships, finishing 7th (2023) and 4th (2024). They are aiming for a medal in Cortina. Yannick Schwaller emphasizes to the Keystone-SDA news agency: "First and foremost, we want to be happy with ourselves. If we can be that, I assume that we will be very close to a medal."

This approach is all the more understandable as the mixed doubles is very unpredictable. Yannick Schwaller says: "It's almost a bit of a grab bag at times." This is because there are already two checkers in each of the ten ends, which makes the game tactically more demanding. The advantages can therefore change quickly. "One second you're in a very good position, the next you're in trouble," explains Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann. "That's what makes it so tricky, but all the more interesting for the spectators."

The pair see it as an advantage that they are also a couple off the ice. "Of course it also brings challenges, but there are more positives than negatives," says Schwaller-Hürlimann. Yannick Schwaller adds: "We can read each other faster and better, which means we need less effort to communicate at a higher level." This helps because he is still competing in another discipline.

The Swiss face Estonia in their first game on Wednesday evening. Each team will play nine games in the round robin - the best four qualify for the semi-finals on February 9.