Swiss Championships: Twice gold and one bronze medal for SMBC

Despite the spring-like temperatures, the South Tyrolean track team was able to get the Olympic Bob Run ready for the Swiss Championships races on New Year's Eve. The first race of the day was the women's skeleton race. Seven athletes - including four ladies from the SMBC - competed for the title. Sara Schmied (SMBC) was in the lead after the first run, but unfortunately too many little mistakes crept in during the second run. So she had to settle for the invidious 4th final rank. In an exciting race Alena Huber (BCBL) won with two consistently good runs ahead of Jill Gander (BCZS; +0.36 seconds) and Carolin Alexa Andrä (SCE; +0.56 seconds).

With the skeletonis, nine athletes competed for the title of Swiss champion. Jean Jacques Buff (SMBC) rejoicedwas this title, as in the previous season, with two best run times. Samuel Keiser (BCF; +0.57 seconds) took second place. Vinzenz Buff (SMBC; +0.95 seconds) was happy about bronze. The Buff brothers have only been competing for SMBC for a short time and yet, won two medals in their first race for our team. Terrific!

Ten teams started for the men's 2-man bobsleigh race and the place at the top was fiercely contested. The SMBC Fanionteam with pilot Michael Kuonen and pusher Marco Tanner won gold in the end. Michael Kuonen and Marco Tanner set the fastest time in both runs in a hundredth of a second thriller. The second-placed team with Cédric Follador and Nicola Mariani (BCSI) lost only five hundredths of a second to the winning team, one in the first run and four in the second run. As well on the podium: Timo Rohner and Maruan Giumma (BCZ+; + 0.50 seconds). Congratulations to all medalists and participating athletes on their strong performances, wishing continued good luck on the ice channel to all!