Bobsleigh pilot Melanie Hasler is enjoying a few quiet days after her two European Championship titles in St. Moritz before heading to the Olympic Games in Italy. The athlete from Aargau is dreaming of a medal.
21.01.2026, 05:01
21.01.2026, 07:14
SDA
Melanie Hasler rushes into the reception hall of the OYM, the high-tech athletics center in Cham, with a lively stride. It's the Friday after her double victory at the European Championships in St. Moritz - and the 27-year-old from Aargau is still beaming. In a season that has been so challenging for Swiss bobsleigh, with no podium finishes in the first five World Cup weekends and serious financial problems, her success is tantamount to redemption.
Hasler decided not to take part in the World Cup final in Altenberg. On the one hand, she could be sure of her position in the top starting group for the Olympic Games in the monobob and the two-man event, and on the other, she also wanted to send out a signal because, in her opinion, those responsible for the track in Saxony have not done enough to improve safety, even two years after the terrible accident involving Swiss pusher Sandro Michel. "It's also about the principle that they do nothing," she says thoughtfully. "For Sandro, the consequences are something he still has to deal with on a daily basis." This is another reason why she boycotted the races in Altenberg, as did her boyfriend, Michel's pilot at the time, Michael Vogt.
A few rare, quiet days
For Hasler herself, not racing in Altenberg has a pleasant side effect. She still has a little free time to catch her breath before the Olympic Games. "I'm glad about that," she admits. "I can wind down my whole nervous system, which has been so overstimulated recently. And I don't have to cram all my appointments into one week."
She enjoys her time at home, commuting between Mutschellen and training in Zugerland. Mutschellen, Aargau, as she emphasizes. She doesn't want to be considered a Zurich native. "I'm the first Aargauer in our family," she says with a laugh. They only moved away from Zurich shortly before she was born. Thanks to her Dominican mother, Hasler speaks fluent Spanish and loves the warmth. "I'm definitely not a winter person. When it's cold, I've already regretted switching sports."
But only briefly, because she loves her sport. Hasler originally played volleyball, first indoors, then on the sand. "Beach volleyball is super fun, but people also underestimate it," she says. "In some training camps, when it was up to 40 degrees in Italy or Turkey, we were happy when it was a bit cooler." Because of her strong jumping ability, she was then offered the chance to try the ice channel.
A dream, not a must
Now the focus is on the highlight of the last four years. Before the season, Hasler said that it also depends on how the races up to the Olympics have gone in order to talk about the goals. At her first Games four years ago in China, she came sixth and seventh. Does it have to be a medal this time? "It doesn't have to be anything," she assures us, "but I'm dreaming of a medal." Her attitude is the same as before the European Championships. "I also said then that it would be difficult, but that I was dreaming of a medal. I have the same attitude now." But she knows that it will take "a lot".
Hasler's experience from the World Cup at the beginning of the season, when she raced on the new track in Cortina d'Ampezzo for the first time, makes her somewhat cautious. In the monobob, she put in a brilliant first run on the ice track, but in the second run she dropped back from first to seventh place - without knowing exactly why. In the two-man, however, she found out why she lost too much time. Her bobsleigh was simply too slow, especially in the fast sections at the bottom.
With the friend's two-man bobsleigh
She was able to solve this problem by using her friend Michael Vogt's sled. "He had been offering me this for some time, and I don't have the money to buy a new bobsleigh," she explains. "I'm super grateful to him for being so generous and allowing me to do this."
Hasler is also well positioned at the start. Her regular starter Nadja Pasternack, with whom she raced in Beijing four years ago, came back strong from maternity leave a year ago and has now gone one better. "I think it's cool with all my competitors," she emphasizes, "but it's special with Nadja because we've already been to the Olympics together once." Two diplomas should be the minimum again this time, for more, as mentioned, "a lot" has to fit. Then she could shine like she did last week.
