Angelica Moser takes a determined run-up: Her form is better than ever
Image: Keystone
Flying far into the sand pit: Simon Ehammer
Image: Keystone
Annik Kälin thanks the audience at Top Athletics Lucerne: In Paris, she is focusing on the heptathlon
Image: Keystone
Ditaji Kambundji - here during her silver medal run after the European Championships in Rome - reached the final at the World Championships 23 in Budapest. This is also possible in Paris
Image: Keystone
Focused on Paris: Mujinga Kambundji can be relied on at the major event
Image: Keystone
Angelica Moser takes a determined run-up: Her form is better than ever
Image: Keystone
Flying far into the sand pit: Simon Ehammer
Image: Keystone
Annik Kälin thanks the audience at Top Athletics Lucerne: In Paris, she is focusing on the heptathlon
Image: Keystone
Ditaji Kambundji - here during her silver medal run after the European Championships in Rome - reached the final at the World Championships 23 in Budapest. This is also possible in Paris
Image: Keystone
Focused on Paris: Mujinga Kambundji can be relied on at the major event
Image: Keystone
The nine European Championship medals from Rome are whetting the appetite for more at the Olympic Games in Paris. With a little competition luck, the first Olympic medal since Seoul 1988 with shot putter Werner Günthör could be on the cards.
Despite all the euphoria that has once again gripped the Swiss athletics team this year, the realities must not be ignored. At the Olympic Games, with competition primarily from overseas, the bar for winning a medal is much higher than at continental championships. This applies in particular to the track races. However, there are gaps in the technical disciplines, as Simon Ehammer proved for the last time at a major global event in 2022 at the World Championships in Eugene when he took bronze in the long jump.
Moser flies higher and higher
From a Swiss perspective, Angelica Moser is in pole position. At 4.88 m, the pole vaulter ranks second in the annual world best list. The 26-year-old, already fifth in the World Championships last year (4.75 m), has gone one better: She finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow (4.75), at the season opener in mid-May she won a Diamond League meeting for the first time in Marrakesh (4.73), a few weeks later she equaled the Swiss record as European champion in Rome (4.78) and at the main Olympic rehearsal in Monaco (4.88) her ambitions for a medal in Paris were finally announced.
Ehammer is also one of the medal candidates in the Swiss Olympic team. The all-around athlete is foregoing the decathlon so as not to harm his chances in the long jump. The man from Appenzell delivers in 2024: World Indoor Championship gold in the heptathlon, European Championship bronze in the long jump, number two on the annual world best list with 8.41 m and a fighting display for his rivals with 8.36 m at the main rehearsal in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Kambundji twice
The Kambundji sisters deliver at major events. And this year, too, they have shone with medals at the European Championships in Rome and world-class times. But, on sober reflection, it has to be said: Reaching the final is already a great success. The Swiss 200 m runners Timothé Mumenthaler and William Reais, who surprised everyone with gold and bronze in Rome, are a long way from that. Even their brilliant performances were not enough to qualify directly for the Olympics.
The situation is different for Annik Kälin. The Grisons native is number 7 in the Olympic ranking in the heptathlon with 6506 points. Unlike Ehammer, the budding physiotherapist from Landquart was definitely spoilt for choice - the heptathlon and long jump overlap in Paris. At the European Championships in Rome, she finished 4th (6490) and 6th (6.82). Kälin's trump card is consistency. If others slip up or a gap opens up due to an injured athlete, she is there.
The same applies to the women's sprint relay team, which finished fourth at the Games in Tokyo: behind the USA, Jamaica and Great Britain, they were the best of the rest. Mujinga Kambundji is taking part for the first time since the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
A total of 14 women and 10 men will be competing in individual disciplines. There will also be two 4x400 relays (women and mixed) and the women's sprint relay. Dominik Lobalu, who excelled in Rome with gold (10,000 m) and bronze (5000 m), "must" start for the Olympic refugee team.
SDA
