Sport in Switzerland
Because of its varied landscape and climate, Switzerland offers a large variety of sports to its inhabitants and visitors.
As a predominantly mountainous country Switzerland has traditionally been one of the strongest nations in the sport of alpine skiing, where it has a long-running rivalry with neighboring Austria.
Switzerland's most successful alpine skiers include Pirmin Zurbriggen, Peter Müller, Bernhard Russi, Didier Cuche, Franz Heinzer and Michael von Grünigen among the men and Vreni Schneider, Erika Hess, Michela Figini, Maria Walliser, Marie Therese Nadig, Sonja Nef, Lise-Marie Morerod and Brigitte Oertli among the women.
Switzerland is also notable as the birthplace of competitive sledding, which originated in the Swiss resort of St. Moritz, which was also where the first bobsleigh was constructed in the late nineteenth century.
Switzerland has traditionally been a strong nation in bobsleigh, enjoying a particularly fierce rivalry with East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Swiss men's team skipped by Dominic Andres won a gold medal at 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
In September 2017 Switzerland made its debut at the annual rink bandy tournament in Nymburk, Czech Republic.
The national team has previously participated at twelve different FIFA World Cups (last in 2022) and five different UEFA European Championships (last in 2021 and as co-host with Austria in 2008.
More recently FC Basel enjoyed great success on a national (winning 11 championship titles from 2003 to 2017) and international level (qualifying 8 times for the UEFA Champions League Group stage.
[12] Mies in Switzerland is home to the headquarters of FIBA, the world's governing agency for international events.
There have been four Swiss-born NBA players: Thabo Sefolosha, Enes Kanter Freedom, Nikola Vučević and Clint Capela.
The Calanda Broncos are the most successful team in Switzerland having won the most Swiss Bowl national championships and was Eurobowl champion in 2012.
Federer won 20 Grand Slam titles and holds the record for the longest consecutive stay as the world number 1 at 237 weeks.
Federer and Wawrinka teamed up at the 2008 Olympics to win the doubles gold medal, and Switzerland also won the 2014 Davis Cup.
[19] In June 2018 Switzerland hosted its first motor race in 63 years when the first Zürich ePrix was held as a round of the all-electric Formula E championship.
High-profile drivers from Formula One and World Rally Championship such as Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sébastien Loeb and Sebastian Vettel all have a residence in Switzerland,[21] sometimes for tax purposes.
Other sports where the Swiss have been successful include athletics, (Werner Günthör and Markus Ryffel), fencing, (Marcel Fischer), cycling, (Fabian Cancellara, Ferdinand Kübler, Hugo Koblet, Oscar Egg, Jolanda Neff, Stefan Küng), kickboxing (Andy Hug), whitewater slalom (Ronnie Dürrenmatt—canoe, Mathias Röthenmund—kayak), beach volleyball (Sascha Heyer, Markus Egger, Paul and Martin Laciga), professional wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli), and triathlon (Brigitte McMahon, Reto Hug, Sven Riederer, Nicola Spirig, Daniela Ryf).
In 2008, he won gold in the individual time trial and silver in the men's road race at the Summer Olympics.
