Switzerland targets historic run at Milan-Cortina with record 175-strong team
Switzerland is sending its largest Winter Games delegation ever to Milan-Cortina, a 175-strong squad that will compete for 116 sets of medals across 16 sports. The team will be absent only in short track and Nordic combined, underscoring the breadth of Swiss participation as the country bids to leave a mark on the 25th Winter Olympics.
Chef de Mission Ralph Stöckli has avoided setting a precise medal target, pointing instead to the nation’s recent benchmarks: 15 medals at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, a tally that equals the record from Calgary 1988. He noted that the Games often deliver surprises, with breakout performers lifting teams while some favorites falter.
Marco Odermatt stands at the center of Swiss hopes. The Beijing giant slalom champion arrives as the most talked-about gold candidate in the delegation, a three-time world champion and four-time overall World Cup winner who is a top favorite in three disciplines.
He is joined by three other world champions in the alpine ranks: Franjo von Allmen, Loïc Meillard and Camille Rast. Beyond skiing, Switzerland expects to be competitive in curling, where both the women and the men have impressed at recent major events. Ice hockey will draw particular attention.
After reaching the finals at the last two World Championships, the men’s national team will enter an Olympic tournament featuring NHL players for the first time since Sochi 2014. Stöckli also sees potential for the women’s team, saying that if they find their game on the right day and build momentum, they can compete for medals.
In bobsleigh, he suggested Switzerland’s 12-year wait for a podium finish could end, adding that for a bobsleigh nation, it feels like time. Four of Switzerland’s seven Olympic champions from Beijing return. In addition to Odermatt, freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, a two-time slopestyle world champion who already owns a complete set of Olympic medals, is again among the podium contenders.
Another title for ski cross champion Ryan Regez or downhill champion Corinne Suter would be a surprise, with both having struggled this season; Suter, rebuilding after a training crash in December, is still regarded as a big-event specialist. Other stars, including Lara Gut-Behrami and Michelle Gisin, saw their Olympic ambitions end early this season after crashes, while retired downhill champion Beat Feuz is also absent.
Milan-Cortina will feature several program changes. In alpine skiing, the mixed team event has been dropped after two editions, and the individual combined has been replaced by a team combined for women and men. Ski mountaineering joins the Olympic program with three medal events in Bormio: a women’s sprint, a men’s sprint and a mixed relay.
In that new discipline, Switzerland is considered a serious medal contender, led by sprint world champion Marianne Fatton. With seasoned champions, rising names and a broad footprint across the programme, Switzerland enters Milan-Cortina with depth and ambition, aiming to match its recent highs while remaining open to the upsets and breakthroughs that have long defined the Olympic stage.