The bobsleigh athletes start the competition season on Saturday in the Olympic resort of Cortina. It will perhaps be their most important in history - and one with major challenges.
21.11.2025, 04:30
21.11.2025, 07:05
SDA
The bobsleighers are finally getting started, and to the surprise of many, even on the new Olympic track in Italy. These are the most important facts about the upcoming season in the ice track.
Money worries
One topic dominated the fall in the Swiss camp: the default of a major sponsor and the lack of several hundred thousand francs in the association's coffers. The elite should feel as little of this as possible in the Olympic year; for the time being, savings are being made in the junior ranks. Sporting success is now all the more important, as an Olympic medal would mean a rise in the Swiss Olympic rankings and more funding. This could prevent further severe cuts.
An overpowering opponent
The whole thing is crazy: The Swiss bobsleighers have actually done quite well in recent years and are battling it out with the USA, which is particularly strong in the women's event, for the title of second-best bobsleigh nation. The problem: one opponent is overpowering and leaves the competition with crumbs at best. At the last Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022, the Germans won three gold medals and seven out of twelve possible medals. At the three World Championships held since then, they have won eleven out of twelve World Championship titles and 27 out of 36 medals. While the belts have to be tightened everywhere, the Germans can still draw on the full range of resources and have been given new, aerodynamically improved sleds from high-tech manufacturer FES for this season - although they already had a clear material advantage, especially in the doubles.
Monobob
The greatest hopes for podium places therefore lie in the monobob and the four-man event. For the second time since Beijing four years ago, the women have two chances of winning a medal at the Olympics thanks to the single-seater - and as the monobob is a standardized sled, at least the material disadvantage is eliminated. In this respect, the foursome has been competitive so far.
Athletics celebrities
Salomé Kora, the third-fastest Swiss 100 m runner in history with a time of 10.95, is trying her hand at pushing for the first time - behind the nominal Swiss number 3 Inola Blatty, who will be competing in the World Cup for the first time. Muswama Kambundji, one of the sisters of super sprinters Mujinga and Ditaji, has been competing for some time. She will be competing in Melanie Hasler's nominally strongest Swiss team with the experienced Nadja Pasternack for a place in the pair.
Selection in December
The Swiss team's chances of taking part in the Olympics also depend on their results. In the men's and women's monobob, the two strongest nations will each receive three starting places in Cortina, and only the top three in the women's two-man event. With optimal performances, three sleds could therefore start. Three Swiss pilots will start in each of the World Cup events: Michael Vogt from Schwyz, who won bronze in the 2023 doubles, the only Swiss World Championship medal in recent years, Timo Rohner from Zug and Cedric Follador from Graubünden, and Hasler from Aargau, Debora Annen from Schwyz and Blatty from Lucerne in the women's event. Two top 6 places in the World Cup are required from the pilots for the Olympic selection. Vogt and Hasler already fulfilled half of the criteria last year. For the Olympics, the push athletes are no longer tied to their respective teams; a performance test on December 28 in Oberhof will decide who will be allowed to travel to Italy.
Olympic track
All bobsleigh athletes were delighted when the Italian government decided to build an ice track in Cortina after all, despite opposition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This banished the spectre of Olympic races in Lake Placid, 6000 km away. In a par force act, a track was built in record time and at a cost of around 100 million euros, which received much praise in the training sessions. From Friday (skeleton), it will experience its competitive baptism of fire, with a total of twelve sets of medals up for grabs in bobsleigh, skeleton and luge at the Olympics.
European Championships in the Engadine
After the start in Cortina, six more World Cups are on the program until the end of January - unlike in recent years, only in Europe. The first highlight is already scheduled before the Olympics. The World Cup on January 10 and 11 in St. Moritz also counts as the European Championships. An important opportunity for the Swiss, especially in the difficult search for sponsors.
