Ruth Metzler and Markus Wolf in a direct duel for the Swiss Olympic

Ruth Metzler and Markus Wolf have been in election campaign mode for months. The two high-profile candidacies for the job at the top of Swiss Olympic are going from sports association to sports association and are campaigning for the votes of the over 80 organizations that are entitled to vote in the sports parliament on November 22nd.

On Thursday, Metzler and Wolf crossed swords for the first time in Magglingen. At an election panel organized by the three overarching interest groups Sport Schweiz, Swiss Coach and sporti(f), the competing duo answered questions from moderator Bernhard Rentsch.

The magic mountain of Swiss sport was not as shrill and controversial as the US election campaign with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Ruth Metzler and Markus Wolf even agreed on many points. The audience was all the more interested in defining moments during the performance with which the candidates tried to score points.

Nervous at first, but very familiar with the topics

Ruth Metzler undoubtedly has more experience with such performances. This became apparent at the beginning of the panel. While she spoke eloquently and freshly in the introduction round, the Graubünden Wolf seemed a bit tense in the warm-up round and often looked at his notes.

The nervousness of the long-time sports official in a variety of roles quickly subsided. During the question and answer sessions, he impressed with the attributes that make him a favorite for a large number of associations – his deep, detailed knowledge of how Swiss sport works. Ported by the Swiss Ski Association and Swiss Cycling, among other associations, the Swiss ice hockey has now expressed its confidence in him.

Ruth Metzler was sent into the race by athletics and received early support from the important gymnastics association. These are two out of three sports associations that are allowed to cast the maximum number of 16 votes. The third in this group is football. Although the SFV was represented in the audience with its potential new president Peter Knäbel, the footballers have not yet made a public vote.

Director Roger Schnegg in the firing line

Back to the podium. Ruth Metzler also discreetly emphasized the advantages of networking and experience in such management positions several times. In an election, she promised to “kindle a fire for sport in Switzerland with conviction and charisma” and surprised with the statement that several associations wanted to combine their voting promise with the demand to replace the director of Swiss Olympic.

With regard to possible Olympic votes, the politician and entrepreneur flirted with the fact that she won all 14 referendums during her time in the Federal Council. Ruth Metzler said of herself that she was “able to learn, a good listener and knows what I can’t do.” Right from the start, Markus Wolf summarized his connection to the sport in a strong slogan: “I am one of you,” he said to the audience, “I live the sport.”

The confrontational side of the discussion focused on a few subtle situations. When Wolf said somewhat sarcastically that, given the many different topics in Swiss sport, he was no longer sure “whether winning Olympic medals is still a goal at all,” Metzler immediately emphasized that she had completed her “onboarding tour.” I haven’t met anyone in Swiss sport who would question this.

How do you get the economy on board?

Markus Wolf, on the other hand, alluded to the fact that Ruth Metzler is a career changer in the world of sports: “I bring a depth to most topics that allows me to not only accompany but also shape.” A fine pinprick in the direction of the former Federal Councilor.

She later retaliated with a decoy offer. She was at lunch with the Federal Council this week and had already agreed two things with them if she became Swiss Olympic President. “You have to know how to pitch an idea,” added Ruth Metzler in response to Markus Wolf’s point that sport must approach the economy with concrete cooperation ideas.

Overall, there was such agreement on priorities and approach during the one-hour debate that the conclusion was that there were two ideally suited people to choose from. The associations are primarily faced with the question of which qualities are currently particularly in demand at Swiss Olympic.