Skip Silvana Tirinzoni and Alina Pätz want to complete their impressive palmarès at the Winter Olympics in Cortina. They certainly don't lack self-confidence.
31.01.2026, 04:30
31.01.2026, 08:09
SDA
Dietikon is a hive of activity. The entire Swiss curling team is getting dressed for the Winter Olympics. In an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, Alina Pätz describes them as "the icing on the cake of four years of hard work". At the same time, she emphasizes: "It would be wrong to say that the Olympic Games are the ultimate. It's always the journey there that counts."
Nevertheless, the goal is clear: anything other than a medal for the Swiss women in Cortina would be a disappointment. Pätz has formed an extremely successful team with Silvana Tirinzoni since May 2018. They have always reached the final at six World Championships together, winning gold on the first four occasions. They have also won five European Championship medals, two of which were gold. Pätz had already become world champion with skip Mirjam Ott in 2012, albeit as a substitute at the time.
However, the Swiss team was denied a podium finish at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing of all places. After eight victories in the nine games of the round robin, the Swiss lost 6:8 to Japan in the semi-final and then 7:9 to Sweden in the bronze medal match, continuing a negative streak: no Swiss women's curling team has won an Olympic medal since the silver medals in 2002 and 2006.
Four years ago, Tirinzoni and Pätz formed a team together with Melanie Barbezat and Esther Neuenschwander; now Selina Witschonke plays the first two stones, while Carole Howald takes the second position. "They are very, very hard workers and fit perfectly into the team," says skip Tirinzoni.
Almost uncanny consistency
The Swiss women travel to Italy with a great deal of self-confidence. In the five Grand Slam tournaments this season with the best teams in the world (mostly 16), they have always reached the final and won twice. In January, the quartet became the first team to triumph at the Players' Championships for the third time in a row.
The quartet clearly exceeded their own expectations. "I'm very proud of these performances; in terms of quality, these are the most difficult tournaments," says Tirinzoni. She attributes the almost uncanny consistency to several factors: "On the one hand, we have a lot of experience, and on the other, we have the will to constantly improve - technically, tactically, physically and mentally. This hunger to never stand still is what makes us so strong and consistent."
It was important to Tirinzoni not to change anything for the Olympic season. Although the team missed out on qualifying for the European Championships at the end of November at the Swiss Championships, they took a short, one-week break from curling and then played another tournament. Other teams have played significantly less this season, says Tirinzoni. "We wanted to do the same as always because we are convinced that we are doing a lot of things right."
Standing up again immediately
Both Tirinzoni and Pätz are taking part in the Olympic Games for the third time, the second time together. Pätz only made a few appearances in Mirjam Ott's team when she finished 4th in Sochi in 2014, while Tirinzoni had to make do with 7th place in Pyeongchang in 2018. Now she wants to win a medal.
"That's our dream," says Tirinzoni. Regarding the bitter disappointment four years ago, she explains: "Nevertheless, we got back up and won the World Championship title a month later. Yes, we had that negative experience, but we came out of it stronger rather than still carrying it with us."
From Friday to Sunday, the Swiss women will compete in another tournament in Bern before going to a preparation camp in Flims on February 6, before traveling to Cortina on February 9. There they will face the hosts Italy in their first match on February 12. The final is scheduled for February 22, the last day of the games. This will be the opportunity to put the icing on the cake.
