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The European Championships in Munich can be considered a complete success. The Swiss performance is also impressive.
The Swiss have won three gold, five silver and six bronze medals in the Bavarian capital. This was enough for 15th place in the medal table won by the hosts.
Six of the 14 places on the podium were won by track and field athletes, who were more successful than ever before at the European Championships and even surpassed the target set by Swiss Athletics of four times a medal.
Cheering in the time trial – whirlwinds in the mountain bike
As usual, the Swiss athletes were successful on two wheels. In the time trial, the Swiss celebrated double gold thanks to Stefan Bissegger and Marlen Reusser. Stefan Küng rounded off the strong team result with silver.
Away from the road, the main focus was on the doping fuss surrounding mountain biker Mathias Flückiger. In the cross-country race, which Nino Schurter also did without, the breadth of the Swiss team came into play. Thanks to Filippo Colombo’s third place, Swiss Cycling was able to celebrate a medal in the 15th European Championship race in a row. In the women’s category, Jolanda Neff only just missed this goal with fourth place.
In addition to the triathlon mixed relay and the beach volleyball duo Hüberli/Brunner, the rowers also returned to Switzerland with medals. They all belong to those sports that the multisport event wants to attract more attention to.
This goal was more than achieved in Munich. Crowds of people flocked to the competition sites, with BMX, for example, 15,000 spectators are said to have been present. The organizers did a lot to bring the sports closer to the population.
Neff wants to keep the four-year cycle
The Swiss athletes were also enthusiastic. “It’s a great stage for mountain biking and all other sports,” said mountain bike Olympic champion Neff, for example. “I hope the event will continue every four years.”
Cyclist Küng, silver medalist in the time trial, added: “The value of the race does not change, but the external perception is certainly different. It makes sense to put that together, it’s positive for the sport itself.”
Comparatively low costs
The Multi-EM was not just a folk festival, it was also a good example of how a major sporting event can be organised. The competitions in the nine sports took place in existing sites, a large part in the Olympic Park built for the 1972 Summer Games.
Therefore, the costs were kept within limits at 130 million euros. Co-founder Marc Jörg said in an interview with the Munich Evening News: «We have proven how well our concept works and how inexpensively you can organize something like this.»