Sports Awards: Celebrating World Champions | Sunday Evening Event

After the short-term postponement due to the fire disaster on New Year’s Eve in Crans-Montana, the honoring of the best Swiss athletes will take place as usual. But the sports world has not stood still since then.

Some of the nominees have cemented or even expanded their status in the last three months – especially Franjo von Allmen, who is now one of the greats as a three-time Olympic champion. Others, like Lara Gut-Behrami, who underwent cruciate ligament surgery, have become quieter.

Odermatt’s hunt for Federer

However, current events do not play a role in the election on Sunday: the only decisive factor is the performance in the period from November 1st, 2024 to October 31st, 2025. It is an election with historical significance, in which one name in particular hovers above all: Marco Odermatt.

The man from Nidwalden is facing a milestone that no one has ever achieved before him. If the man from Nidwalden wins his fifth nomination, it would be his fifth consecutive award as Swiss Sportsman of the Year. This would bring him another step closer to the record holder Roger Federer, who has won seven awards. The four-time overall World Cup winner and Super-G world champion is once again the benchmark and at the same time the face of a golden Swiss ski generation.

Among men, this represents half of the nominees. In addition to Odermatt, there are two other athletes from the Swiss Ski camp to choose from: downhill world champion Franjo von Allmen (Platform J reported) and Loïc Meillard, who wrote Swiss ski history with slalom gold in Saalbach. The alpine trio is complemented by two athletes who have achieved historic achievements in their field. Wrestling king Orlik Armon, who was the first person from Graubünden to win the Swiss competition, and artistic gymnast Noe Seifert, who won bronze in the all-around at the World Championships, the first Swiss medal in this supreme discipline in 75 years.

Noè Ponti plays a special role. The Ticino would be only the second swimmer after Etienne Dagon (1984) to be named Swiss athlete of the year. His world championship titles, world records on the short course and the confirmation of his world class in the Olympic pool make him a serious challenger who could break the dominance of snow sports.

Ditaji Kambundji is nominated for the award for her gold medal in the 100 meter hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Female power with gold in its luggage

For the women, the starting position promises equal excitement, with a density of world-class players like never before. Lara Gut-Behrami, already a three-time winner (2016, 2023, 2024), is the only nominee without a world title in the election year. All five challengers have World Cup gold in their luggage. Camille Rast as slalom world champion, Mathilde Gremaud with World Championship gold in slopestyle, Alessandra Keller as short track world champion in mountain bike, Marlen Reusser with her emotional comeback title in the time trial (Platform J reported) and Ditaji Kambundji, who made sports history as the first Swiss track and field world champion (Platform J reported). The density of world champions in this category has rarely been so great.

And Marlen Reusser has a chance of winning the award because of her world championship title in the time trial.

The decision will be made during the TV gala, which will be broadcast by all three state broadcasters and in which the audience will have a say via televoting as to who will make history at the end. In addition to the two main categories, other awards will be presented.

Not just individual athletes in the spotlight

Thanks to their recent participation in the World Cup final, the national ice hockey team, the women’s national soccer team, which reached the quarter-finals for the first time at the home European Championships, and the world champion duo Meillard/von Allmen in the Alpine team combination made it into the shortlist for Team of the Year.

The teams’ successes are also reflected in the election for Coach of the Year. The selection includes Pia Sundhage (football) and Patrick Fischer (ice hockey), the main managers of the two nominated national teams, as well as Florian Clivaz, who led Ditaji and Mujinga Kambundji to their World Cup titles.

Last year’s winner Catherine Debrunner, series winner Marcel Hug and Flurina Rigling compete against each other in the Paralympic athletes category. The following six candidates are up for election for MVP of the year: Sven Andrighetto and Leonardo Genoni (both ice hockey), Lara Heini (floorball), Tabea Schmid (handball) and Géraldine Reuteler and Yann Sommer (both football).