Sursee/Ittigen, November 3, 2023. Roger Federer and Thomas Zurbuchen inspired top Swiss athletes with their performances at the Swiss Olympic Olympic meeting. In accordance with the Swiss mission statement for Paris 2024 – “United4Excellence” – the Olympic meeting also provided numerous cross-sport encounters and discussions.
Cartoonists, a magician, a boules court, French food and exciting encounters at your discretion. In the spirit of Parisian savoir-faire and elegance, Swiss Olympic used the Olympic meeting to get over 100 top Swiss athletes in the mood for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, which begin in 266 days. In accordance with the mission statement “United4Excellence”, the potential Olympic and Paralympic participants from numerous summer sports gathered on the Sursee campus on Thursday and Friday to find out and learn about the upcoming major event.
Long conversations with Roger Federer
And they truly learned from some of the best. On Thursday, none other than Roger Federer spoke to the current generation of athletes about what factors are crucial for a successful career and he looked back on his own Olympic participation. Federer said he always enjoyed his time in the Olympic Village: “Even if I slept away when I later took part, I always spent one day or another in the Olympic Village. The exchanges with athletes from different countries and sports are unforgettable. So get involved in these encounters and enjoy them.”
After his appearance on the podium, the Swiss superstar also took part in the aperitif and dinner, mingled with the people and exchanged intensive ideas with the athletes present until late in the evening. And yes: of course he also posed for countless selfies.
Deal with failure so you can focus on success
At least mentally things went even higher on the second day of the Olympic meeting. On Friday morning, former NASA science director and current ETH professor Thomas Zurbuchen used the Mars mission “Perseverance” from 2021, which he led, to explain which elements are important for success. An important insight that Zurbuchen passed on to the athletes was: “I always visualized the decisive day X in advance and also considered my reaction in the event of failure. This was the only way I could focus on success afterwards,” said Zurbuchen, who was responsible for an annual budget of several billion dollars until the end of 2022 during his time at NASA and also saw how highly complicated, long-planned missions did not go as planned or only in the second or second third attempt was successful.
Extra motivation for Olympic qualification
In addition to the inspiring remarks from Roger Federer and Thomas Zurbuchen, the participants at the Olympic meeting received practical information about the conditions in Paris. Laurent Michaud from Vaud, head of the Olympic Village in Paris, explained the structural measures the organizing committee is using to ensure that the buildings can be operated as sustainably and efficiently as possible and still offer the best possible comfort. Swiss Olympic partner On also provided an insight into the development of the delegation clothing, which will then be presented in early summer 2024.
“Our goal was to show the athletes what to expect in Paris. Above all, we wanted to inspire them and provide an extra boost of motivation with a view to the upcoming, decisive phase in Olympic qualification,” said Ralph Stöckli, the Chef de Mission of Swiss Olympic, at the end of the 2023 Olympic meeting.
A picture gallery from the 2023 Olympic meeting can be found here Link.
Source: Swiss Olympic press release from November 3, 2023
2023-11-03 13:09:04
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