Switzerland At The 2012 Summer Olympics

Swiss athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except when they boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne in protest of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. The Swiss Olympic Association sent a total of 103 athletes to the 2012 Games, 72 men and 31 women, to compete in 18 sports.

Switzerland at the 2012 Summer Olympics
IOC code	SUI
NOC	Swiss Olympic Association
Website	www.swissolympic.ch (in German and French)
in London
Competitors	103 in 18 sports
Flag bearers	Stanislas Wawrinka (opening) Nicola Spirig (closing)
Medals Ranked 33rd	Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 0 Total 4
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Switzerland left London with a total of four Olympic medals (two gold and two silver), their lowest in Summer Olympic history since 1992. This was in stark contrast with the zero medal tally of the neighbouring Austria, a nation of roughly comparable size. Most of these medals were awarded to the athletes in cycling, tennis, equestrian, and triathlon.

Among the nation's medalists were mountain biker Nino Schurter, who won his second Olympic medal after winning the silver in men's cross-country race. Equestrian rider Steve Guerdat won Switzerland's first ever gold medal in the individual show jumping. Meanwhile, Nicola Spirig became the second Swiss athlete to claim an Olympic title in women's triathlon since its official debut as a full-medal sport in 2000. World number-one male tennis player Roger Federer won the coveted silver medal in the men's singles, after he was defeated by Great Britain's Andy Murray. Several Swiss athletes missed out of the medal standings. Defending Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara finished seventh in the men's individual time trial, following the collarbone injury he received in the road race.

The Swiss Olympic Association selected a team of 103 athletes, 72 men and 31 women, to compete in 18 sports, their largest delegation ever surpassing the record set in Sydney by a single athlete. Men's football was the only team-based sport in which Switzerland were represented in these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in badminton, BMX cycling and Greco-Roman wrestling. Athletics was the largest team in the individual sports, with a total of 15 competitors.

The Swiss team featured three defending champions from Beijing: road cyclist Fabian Cancellara, and tennis doubles players Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer was offered the honour of carrying the Swiss flag for the third time after he won the Wimbledon Championships, and reached the top of the men's world tennis rankings. However, he nominated his compatriot and close friend Wawrinka to perform the duty at the opening ceremony instead. Along with Federer, three other Swiss athletes made their fourth Olympic appearance: marathon runner Viktor Röthlin, Star sailor Flavio Marazzi, and quadruple sculls rower André Vonarburg. Equestrian show jumper Pius Schwizer, at age 49, was the oldest athlete of the team, while all-around gymnast Giulia Steingruber was the youngest at age 18.

Other notable Swiss athletes featured mountain biker and bronze medalist Nino Schurter, freestyle swimmer and six-time national record holder Dominik Meichtry, triathletes Sven Riederer and Nicola Spirig, and equestrian show jumper Steve Guerdat, who led his team by winning the bronze medal in Beijing.

Switzerland qualified two archers in men's and women's individual events.

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Axel Müller	Men's individual	633	62	Oh J-h (KOR) (3) L 3–7	Did not advance
Nathalie Dielen	Women's individual	528	62	Tan Y-t (TPE) (3) L 4–6	Did not advance

14 Swiss athletes qualified for the athletics events.

Key

• Note – Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• PB = Personal best
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

 

Men
Track & road events

Women
Track & road events

*4 × 100 m relay reserves: Jacqueline Gasser and Clélia Reuse

Field events

Combined events – Heptathlon

On 11 May 2012, Sabrina Jaquet qualified to compete in the Olympic Badminton Women's singles.

Athlete	Event	Group Stage			Elimination	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Sabrina Jaquet	Women's singles	Nehwal (IND) L (9–21, 4–21)	L Tan (BEL) L (16–21, 16–21)	3	Did not advance

Slalom

Switzerland has so far qualified boats for the following events:

Road

Fabian Cancellara was the defending Olympic champion in the men's time trial event and the 2008 Olympic silver medallist in the road race event. In the road race on 28 July, he fell and bruised his collarbone when he hit the safety bars with 15 kilometres to go. He finished in 106th place. Because of his pain, he changed his positioning on the bike and was able to take part in the time-trial event, but was unable to retain his title and finished in seventh place.

 

Mountain biking

 

In September 2011, Nino Schurter qualified for the Olympic Mountain Bike event. Ralf Näf and Florian Vogel were qualified on 25 May 2012. Fabian Giger was also named first reserve in case of a withdrawal. On 25 May 2012 Katrin Leumann and Esther Süss qualified for the Olympic Mountain Bike event.

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Ralf Näf	Men's cross-country	1:32:58	18
Nino Schurter		1:29:08
Florian Vogel		1:34:36	25
Katrin Leumann	Women's cross-country	1:38:23	19
Esther Süss		1:32:46	5

BMX

Jumping

Switzerland has qualified a team in the jumping event because they were one of the three best non-qualified teams in the team event of the 2011 European Show Jumping Championship.

Athlete	Horse	Event	Qualification								Final					Total
			Round 1		Round 2			Round 3			Round A		Round B
			Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank
Paul Estermann	Castlefield Eclipse	Individual	0	=1 Q	0	0	=1 Q	8	8	=11 Q	5	=20 Q	5	10	=17	10	=17
Steve Guerdat	Nino des Buissonnets		0	=1 Q	4	4	=17 Q	4	8	=11 Q	0	=1 Q	0	0	=1	0
Werner Muff	Kiamon		0	=1 Q	4 #	4	=17 Q	8 #	12	33*	Did not advance					12	33
Pius Schwizer	Carlina		8	=60 Q	0	8	=31 Q	0	8	=11 Q	1	=7 Q	8	9	=12	9	=12
Paul Estermann Steve Guerdat Werner Muff Pius Schwizer	See above	Team	—								4	=2	12	16	4	16	4

* A maximum of three riders from a single country can advance to the individual final. Therefore, Werner Muff did not advance, as Switzerland had three riders with fewer penalty points.

On 11 May 2012, Fabian Kauter and Max Heinzer qualified for the men's individual épée and Tiffany Geroudet (18) qualified for the women's individual épée. Both Fabian Kauter and Max Heinzer lost in the round of 16 to Yannick Borel (21) and Rubén Limardo (13), respectively. Tiffany Geroudet lost in the round of 16 to the eventual 2012 bronze medallist Sun Yujie (1).

Men

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Max Heinzer	Individual épée	Inostroza (CHI) W 15–2	Limardo (VEN) L 11–15	Did not advance
Fabian Kauter		Bye	Borel (FRA) L 11–15	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Tiffany Geroudet	Individual épée	Bye	Piekarska (POL) W 15–14	Sun Yj (CHN) L 10–15	Did not advance

Switzerland men's football team qualified for the event by reaching the final of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

• Men's team event – 1 team of 18 players

Men's tournament

Squad

The following is the Switzerland squad in the men's football tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Coach: Pierluigi Tami

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	2012 club
1	1GK	Diego Benaglio* (c)	(1983-09-08)8 September 1983 (aged 28)	1	0	Wolfsburg
2	3MF	Xavier Hochstrasser*	(1988-07-01)1 July 1988 (aged 24)	1	0	Luzern
3	2DF	Fabio Daprelà	(1991-02-19)19 February 1991 (aged 21)	1	0	Brescia
4	3MF	Oliver Buff	(1992-08-03)3 August 1992 (aged 19)	0	0	Zürich
5	2DF	François Affolter	(1991-03-13)13 March 1991 (aged 21)	1	0	Werder Bremen
6	3MF	Alain Wiss	(1990-08-21)21 August 1990 (aged 21)	1	0	Luzern
7	4FW	Innocent Emeghara	(1989-05-27)27 May 1989 (aged 23)	1	0	Lorient
8	3MF	Amir Abrashi	(1990-03-27)27 March 1990 (aged 22)	1	0	Grasshopper
9	3MF	Fabian Frei	(1989-01-08)8 January 1989 (aged 23)	1	0	Basel
10	3MF	Pajtim Kasami	(1992-06-02)2 June 1992 (aged 20)	1	0	Fulham
11	4FW	Admir Mehmedi	(1991-03-16)16 March 1991 (aged 21)	1	0	Dynamo Kyiv
12	4FW	Josip Drmić	(1992-08-08)8 August 1992 (aged 19)	1	0	Zürich
13	2DF	Ricardo Rodriguez	(1992-08-25)25 August 1992 (aged 19)	1	0	Wolfsburg
14	4FW	Steven Zuber	(1991-08-17)17 August 1991 (aged 20)	1	0	Grasshopper
15	2DF	Timm Klose*	(1988-05-09)9 May 1988 (aged 24)	1	0	Nürnberg
16	2DF	Fabian Schär	(1991-12-20)20 December 1991 (aged 20)	1	0	Basel
17	2DF	Michel Morganella	(1989-05-17)17 May 1989 (aged 23)	1	0	Palermo
18	1GK	Benjamin Siegrist	(1992-01-31)31 January 1992 (aged 20)	0	0	Aston Villa

* Over-aged player.

Group play

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mexico	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	South Korea	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Gabon	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2
4	Switzerland	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1

26 July 2012 (2012-07-26)

17:15

Gabon	1–1	Switzerland
Aubameyang   45'	Report	Mehmedi   5' (pen.)

St James' Park, Newcastle

Attendance: 15,748

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

29 July 2012 (2012-07-29)

17:15

South Korea	2–1	Switzerland
Park Chu-young   57' Kim Bo-kyung   64'	Report	Emeghara   60'

Ricoh Arena, Coventry

Attendance: 30,114

Referee: Raúl Orosco (Bolivia)

1 August 2012 (2012-08-01)

17:00

Mexico	1–0	Switzerland
Peralta   69'	Report

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Artistic

Men

Women

Switzerland has qualified 2 judokas.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Ludovic Chammartin	Men's −60 kg	Bye	Choi G-H (KOR) L 0000–0001	Did not advance
Juliane Robra	Women's −70 kg	—	Hwang Y-S (KOR) L 0002–0011	Did not advance

On 11 May 2012, Augustin Maillefer, Nico Stahlberg, Florian Stofer and André Vonarburg qualified for the Olympic Rowing quadruple sculls and Mario Gyr, Simon Niepmann, Simon Schürch and Lucas Tramèr qualified for the Olympic Rowing lightweight four.

Men

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

On 5 June 2012, Yannick Brauchli, Romuald Hausser, Flavio Marazzi, Enrico De Maria and Richard Stauffacher qualified to compete in the Olympic Sailing Men's events and Nathalie Brugger qualified to compete in the Olympic Sailing Women's event.

Men

Women

M = Medal races; BFD = Black flag disqualification; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;

Switzerland has earned seven quota places.

Men

Women

Swiss swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of two swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and one at the Olympic Selection Time (OST):

Men

Women

Switzerland has qualified 2 quota places in synchronized swimming.

Switzerland has qualified four athletes.

Athlete	Event	Swim (1.5 km)	Trans 1	Bike (40 km)	Trans 2	Run (10 km)	Total Time	Rank
Sven Riederer	Men's	17:22	0:39	58:52	0:30	30:23	1:47:46	8
Ruedi Wild		18:28	0:42	59:17	0:28	32:15	1:51:10	39
Daniela Ryf	Women's	19:49	0:51	1:08:28	0:31	36:58	2:06:37	40
Nicola Spirig		19:24	0:40	1:05:33	0:30	33:41	1:59:48

Beach

Athlete	Event	Preliminary round	Standing	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Jefferson Bellaguarda Patrick Heuscher	Men's	Pool A   Lupo – Nicolai (ITA) L 0–2 (19–21, 18–21)   Cerutti – Rego (BRA) L 0–2 (18–21, 17–21)   Doppler – Horst (AUT) W 2–0 (24–22, 21–12)	2 Q	Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) L 0–2 (20–22, 15–21)	Did not advance			9
Sébastien Chevallier Sascha Heyer		Pool C   Wu – Xu (CHN) W 2–1 (18–21, 21–16, 15–12)   Prokopiev – Semenov (RUS) W 2–1 (28–26, 18–21, 15–13)   Brink – Reckermann (GER) L 0–2 (14–21, 16–21)	2 Q	Fijałek – Prudel (POL) L 0–2 (18–21, 17–21)	Did not advance			9
Simone Kuhn Nadine Zumkehr	Women's	Pool B   Arvaniti – Tsiartsiani (GRE) W 2–0 (21–13, 21–19)   Xue – Zhang (CHN) L 1–2 (18–21, 21–16, 8–15)   Vasina – Vozakova (RUS) L 1–2 (17–21, 21–19, 9–15)	3 Q	Kessy – Ross (USA) L 0–2 (15–21, 19–21)	Did not advance			9

On 11 May 2012, Pascal Strebel qualified to compete in the Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling.

Key

• VT – Victory by Fall.
• PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
• PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.

Men's Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Pascal Strebel	−66 kg	Bye	Tskhadaia (GEO) L 0–3 PO	Did not advance					15