Swiss Athletics' support system continues to generate medals

Swiss athletics is continuing its run of success and establishing itself as a permanent fixture at international title competitions. The team has won eleven medals at the last three World Indoor Championships alone. Last weekend in Torun, Simon Ehammer (gold) in the heptathlon, Audrey Werro (silver) in the 800 m and Angelica Moser (bronze) in the pole vault contributed the next chapter to this development.

The ongoing period of success raises the question of whether this is just the beginning of a new era or the culmination of an exceptional generation. Association President Christoph Seiler disagrees with the second hypothesis. He does not want the current status to be understood as the end point, but as a basis for further strengthening the overall system, not least thanks to the outstanding generation of top athletes. "I don't believe that we are seeing the peak of an exceptional generation. That would mean that things are now going backwards. Our task is to consolidate this success in the long term and continue to develop," Seiler told Keystone-SDA in Torun.

The Bernese explains his optimism with two central factors. Firstly, the current top performers are young and still have some very good years ahead of them. Secondly, the junior squad will continue to grow, albeit less dynamically than before. This means that the pipeline of talent remains intact. At the same time, Seiler emphasizes: "It is not possible to plan for further Swiss world record holders. However, I am convinced that we have the talent and the system in place to set accents beyond the current generation of athletes at absolute world level."

From the pyramid to the funnel

The high international level of Swiss athletics naturally has numerous success factors and also some weaknesses, particularly in the area of full-time coaches. But above all, Seiler sees a paradigm shift that was initiated even before his twelfth year as president. "From the pyramid to the funnel", as he calls it.

25 years ago, a track and field athlete in Switzerland first had to work their way up the pyramid via clubs, regional squads, etc., until promotion took effect. Only when there was a chance of making it into the top half of the world championship rankings did the money start to flow. And there were also some junior projects on the side. "Now we're turning things around," explains Seiler. "At the top of the funnel are our three major junior projects, which reach over 200,000 children and young people every year." This way, the best are in view right from the start and they then trickle further down the funnel. And at the bottom, there is a suspiciously frequent glitter of precious metal. Currently, eight athletes even have the potential to win an Olympic medal.

Smelling the rat early

A broad selection of young athletes is important. Anyone who starts young for the first time in the national dress costs a piece of the future. An "appetizer", as Seiler calls it. "They can smell a rat". International competitions serve as motivation and accelerate careers. "We spend a lot of money on the junior competitions and also on training camps."

Seiler, once a top national marathon runner and head of finance at a listed company for many years, knows a thing or two about sport and finance. "This system with the funnel is in line with my convictions," he emphasizes. The current broad success of Swiss athletics is the result of more than 20 years of development work with various master builders. The right course was set at a time when Swiss World Championship titles or even world records were unthinkable. "Since the 2014 home European Championships in Zurich, we have succeeded in driving the system forward and optimizing it," he says, also with a view to the Swiss Athletics budget, which has more than doubled since he took office in 2015.