After two podium places in the World Cup, Valerio Grond and Janik Riebli also have their sights set on a world championship medal in the team sprint. Their coach describes them as brothers, albeit very different ones.
05.03.2025, 05:00
05.03.2025, 07:23
SDA
The best Swiss sprinters Valerio Grond and Janik Riebli agree on one thing: the 24-year-old from Graubünden is the organized one, the two years older from Obwalden the chaotic one. Nevertheless, the two practically always share a room when they are on the road, including at the World Championships in Trondheim. There are no problems, on the contrary.
"It's one of those things with Valerio," explains Riebli. "He has almost no points of attack because he somehow always does everything right." Perhaps he doesn't like hearing that so much, the Central Swiss player interjects with a laugh. "But maybe that's why people say he's the perfect one, the most beautiful and the cleverest after Roman Schaad (also a Swiss cross-country skier)." However, Riebli is keen to clarify: "He's certainly the tidier of the two of us, but he's not over-perfect, so not at all."
The decisive boost
Grond appreciates his team-mate's carefree attitude. "Janik is certainly a bit more open and communicative as a person than I am." They complement each other well and have a "great atmosphere". This is important to both of them and spurs them on to top performance. "Physically, you can just run your race, regardless of your partner," says Grond with a view to the team sprint. "But mentally, it's an advantage if you understand each other well. You're not just running for yourself, but also for a friend. It definitely pushes me a bit more." Or as Riebli puts it: "At the crucial moment, that's exactly the boost you need."
How do you deal with two such different characters as a coach? Erik Braaten laughs at the question: "Helping them is great fun," assures the Norwegian head coach of the Swiss men's cross-country team. Because: "When it comes to work, they are not so different." Both are thorough, ambitious and set themselves high standards. "Janik is a bit of a gambler," says Braaten. "I'd say he jokes around 330 days a year, but when it comes down to it, he's fully focused."
Farmer and hunter
Another thing they have in common is that they both have an important job alongside their professional sport. Riebli, a trained farmer, likes to help out on his father's farm in Giswil or on the alp, especially in summer. "He needs that," says Braaten. "But Valerio also has his thing. He has his sacred two weeks in September." That's when Grond from Davos goes hunting. That's not a problem for the coach. "It's all a question of timing. Working on the farm for Janik and hunting for Valerio is good for their mental balance. They're not lying around during this time. They train anyway."
There are certainly moments when Grond and Riebli get on each other's nerves, when they have had enough of each other. But that's the way it is in every family. "They see each other as brothers," says Erik Braaten. And as such, they want to provide a second Nordic highlight for Switzerland on Wednesday after Nadine Fähndrich's bronze medal in the individual sprint.
