After the Olympic Games in Paris, the head of the Swiss delegation, Ralph Stöckli, draws a positive balance that goes beyond the good performance of the Swiss athletes.
11.08.2024, 13:20
11.08.2024, 14:29
SDA
An hour before the official "summary speech", Stöckli is already sitting in the Maison Suisse and, like everyone else, chatting about the past three weeks in Paris. The focus - and this may come as a surprise - is not on the results of the Swiss delegation, but on everyone talking about the joyful days in Paris: the transport concept worked, the atmosphere was great, everything was designed for sustainability (very little was built), Dario Cologna saw the sport shown in the best light worldwide, it was a celebration in front of some unique backdrops.
Only sport can do that
"Only sport can bring 207 nations so closely together for three weeks," emphasizes Stöckli. "The organizing committee and the IOC have delivered what they promised with the Olympic Games in the middle of the cosmopolitan city of Paris." And Swiss Olympic President Jürg Stahl also raves: "Paris is vibrant, it's been superb."
In the official part, Stöckli praised the breadth of Swiss sport with eight medals in seven disciplines and 32 diplomas in 17 sports. "Our foundation is good, Switzerland has established itself at a higher level."
The three focal points
The former top curler focused his speech on the lessons learned from Paris 2024, naming three key points in which the Swiss sports system needs to be optimized in order to remain successful and to turn the nine fourth places into one or two more medals.
"Switzerland is a leader in the areas of research and innovation. We need to transfer this knowledge and expertise even better to elite sport and also use synergies with the economy," says Stöckli on the first point. Swiss Olympic has been pursuing this path since summer 2022 with the "Swiss Olympic Park" project as a network of innovative forces from sport, business and science. "But there is still a lot of untapped potential."
The second point Stöckli addresses is the changes to the coaching staff after the Olympic Games. "Our goal must be to show coaches a long-term, concrete career path and ensure that they remain active in our associations and the Swiss sports system for as long as possible with their specialist knowledge." If you always have to start from scratch, you have lost.
The third insight highlighted by the head of delegation is the individual support of athletes, which is becoming increasingly important. He was aware of this point, but in discussions with colleagues from other countries, he had become particularly aware of it once again. "Targeted individual support leads to success."
