The Swiss ski stars provided a shower of medals and great euphoria at the Olympics. But not all Swiss-Ski athletes were enthusiastic. One of them, who narrowly missed out on selection, is now venting his anger.
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- While his teammates were busy collecting medals at the Olympics, Justin Murisier had to watch on TV.
- The 34-year-old from Valais is annoyed that "at most 25 can ski really well" in an Olympic ski race.
- Although he has nothing against exotic skiers at the Olympics, he thinks it's a shame that some top athletes are forced to watch. "That's not in the spirit of the sport," says Murisier.
With eight medals, the Swiss ski cracks won more than half of all possible medals in Milano/Cortina. Switzerland won gold in almost every discipline, only in the giant slalom did Swiss-Ski have to "make do" with silver and bronze. Franjo von Allmen, Marco Odermatt, Loïc Meillard and Tanguy Nef delivered. In total, there were eight medals for the Swiss men - a demonstration of power.
Justin Murisier would also have liked to have fought for the medals. However, the 34-year-old, who celebrated his first and so far only World Cup victory in the downhill in Beaver Creek a year ago, narrowly missed out on the selection criteria. The man from Valais was forced to watch. Just like other cracks such as youngster Alessio Miggiano, who fell victim to the rule that Switzerland was only allowed to nominate eleven athletes.
Nothing against the exotics, but ...
Murisier admits that it wasn't easy for him to sit in front of the TV. "It makes me sad when there are just 34 racers at the start in the downhill, of which at most 25 can ski really well," Murisier tells Blick."It simply can't be right that athletes who have the potential to win a medal have to stay at home and watch some exotic skiers in the most important race of the last four years."
This was not only a problem in the downhill, but also in the technical disciplines. "After the first run in the Olympic slalom, thirtieth place was over 8 seconds behind the best time. That's not a good advertisement for our sport," Murisier says plainly.
He has nothing against exotic athletes at the Olympic Games. "But the top 30 in the world rankings should start the race before these exotics. But due to the Olympic regulations, various top 30 athletes are not allowed to compete at all. And that's not in the spirit of the sport."
