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Luncheon: “Swiss Olympic team is #allin4Tokyo”

Luncheon: “Swiss Olympic team is #allin4Tokyo”

Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The second SCCIJ October Luncheon put the preparations of Switzerland for the 2020 Olympic Games in the Japanese capital into the spotlight. “The process to provide Swiss athletes with the best conditions possible is in full swing,” speaker Mr. Alexander Waefler told his audience. About 40 members and guests of the SCCIJ came to hear the media director of the Swiss Olympic Association, the National Olympic Committee of Switzerland.

Luncheon: “Swiss Olympic team is #allin4Tokyo”

SCCIJ Luncheon speaker Mr. Alexander Waefler, media director of the Swiss Olympic Association

Huge media entourage

The speaker introduced impressive numbers. The Swiss Olympic team will probably consist of around110 athletes, the highest number ever, surpassing the 105 athletes at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “We based our calculation on the current results of Swiss athletes with Olympic potential and the expected Swiss slots in the Olympic disciplines,” Mr. Waefler explained. Also, 50 journalists, 18 photographers, and the Swiss national television station(providing its program in three different languages) will come to Tokyo to cover the activities of the Swiss athletes.

The selection of the Olympic participants is a complicated process governed by directives of the International Olympic Committee, the relevant international sports federations, and by considerations of the Swiss Olympic Association. In some sports disciplines like mountain-biking, Switzerland has several excellent athletes. Hence, the country could be able to fill up its three potential spots out of 38 athletes in the men and women events. But in disciplines like archery, it is not sure yet whether a Swiss athlete might qualify for the Olympics.

Luncheon: “Swiss Olympic team is #allin4Tokyo”

Members and advisors of the SCCIJ Executive Committee with Luncheon speaker Mr. Alexander Waefler

Different selection considerations

“In final consideration, there will be three categories of Swiss athletes competing in the 2020 Olympics,” the speaker explained — first, athletes with a real potential to win a medal in Tokyo. Second, athletes with the potential to win a medal or an Olympic diploma at the 2024 games, but already gathering the helpful experience of competing in a multi-sports event. Third, athletes with the potential to deliver their best performance at the Olympic Games and who may become ambassadors of their discipline in Switzerland. “In Rio 2016, Switzerland won seven medals, but four of these athletes retired from their sport,” the speaker said.

In the meantime, the Swiss Olympic Association tackles its own challenges. “First and foremost, we want to protect the athletes from the Tokyo summer heat with its high temperatures and high humidity,” Mr. Waefler stated. As part of the preparation, Swiss Olympic employees gather information at test events. Also, the Swiss medical team has created infographics on how to prepare and cope with the climate. For example, the experts recommend a two-week acclimatization period, a cooling of the body before the competition by taking a cold bath, drinking ice slurry, and applying menthol and iced towels. “We also set up a heat chamber in a track cycling facility near Bern,” the speaker reported.

Luncheon: “Swiss Olympic team is #allin4Tokyo”

About 40 members and guests of the SCCIJ joined the second October Luncheon.

Long item list for athletes

Huge transport requirements create another challenge. For example, a specialist freight company will send eight horses, two tons of saddles and other riding gear, as well as one ton of fodder to Tokyo. Ten sailing boots and five small boats would go by freight container to Japan. On the Swiss packing list are also 250 liters of fruit juice, 1,000 liters of soft drinks donated by sponsor Rivella, 13 coffee machines with 15,000 coffee pads, 200 kilograms of cereals, and three ovens to bake bread and buns. “Other essential items are 10,000 pins; our athletes will exchange them with pins of other sportspeople,” Mr. Waefler explained.

Switzerland has thought already about its public image at the 2020 Games. In the Q&A section of the luncheon, Mr. Ivo Kaufmann, Head of Economic and Financial Affairs of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan, introduced the concept of the “House of Switzerland”. It will be run by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and is slated to open in Shibuya (5-11-2 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku Tokyo). “We will showcase Swiss art & design, education & innovation, gastronomy & tourism, and sports & culture,” Mr. Kaufmann said. Switzerland was the first participating country to announce the location of its Olympics facility for public contact with Swiss athletes, media people, and other representatives of Switzerland. It will open two days before the 2020 Summer Games and close on the last day of the 2020 Paralympic Summer Games. “This will be the place to follow the Swiss team,” Luncheon speaker Waefler said under big applause. “Please observe our mission statement #allin4Tokyo.”

Biography of the speaker

Mr. Alexander Waefler, born in 1979 in Berne, studied history and English literature. After working as a sports reporter for a large Swiss newspaper, he joined the soccer team FC Thun as a communications director in 2012. After switching to Swiss Olympic two years later, on January 2015, he took over as the head of media operations of Swiss Olympic. In this function, he led the Swiss media operations at the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and the Olympic Winter Games 2018 in PyeongChang (South Korea).

Text and photos: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ

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