Biathlon in Switzerland is like a lamp from the 70s

Reading the title above, one or two readers might ask themselves: Piece of furniture? 70s? There was something there. Exactly, they are lines from this year's après-ski hit "Wackelkontakt" by the Bavarian singer-songwriter Oimara.

It's not that pop hits backed by blaring techno beats suit my personal taste in music. Nevertheless, the song was my constant companion over the past two weeks at the Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm and then at the Biathlon Championships in Lenzerheide.

From the Ski World Championships to the Biathlon World Championships However, in different forms: At the ski festival, up to 23.000 throats roared the lyrics of the song in the finish stadium, fans danced to them on the Medal Plaza, the familiar sounds thundered from the après-ski bars and even late at night I met young people on the streets of Hinterglemm who played “Wackelkontakt” over and over again with a Bluetooth speaker.

At the end of the Ski World Championships, I moved on to Switzerland. The popular song was played there again and again, but it rarely created a good atmosphere. How could it be, since the biathlon arena was only really full on 3 of the 9 competition days. There was no medal plaza, and the fan mile somewhere on a hill between Lenzerheide and the biathlon area in the World Championship town of Lantsch did not deserve the name. The biathlon event always presented itself to me like a lamp from the 70s. And - as the song says - with lots of loose connections.

There were always problems around the Roland Arena in particular. I had to experience this first hand. There were no media parking spaces. On the first day, the shuttle bus drove me straight past the World Cup arena at high speed. Only after the passengers pointed it out did the bus driver turn around in the neighboring village. He said he didn't know exactly where the arena was. Oh well, it can happen. But in the evening there were similar problems. When I left my workplace in the dark, there were no more shuttle buses. After waiting for almost an hour in sub-zero temperatures, I finally got on a post bus.

There were problems around the Roland Arena But on the same day I also got to know the charm that a lamp from the 70s exudes. I met a helpful local who offered me a place to park my car in front of his garage for the next few days. It was right next to the biathlon stadium. I pushed my thoughts back to the Ski World Championships, which had been perfectly organized down to the last detail, and enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Graubünden. It wasn't their fault that biathlon in Switzerland still has a few loose ends.

Before this World Cup, Lenzerheide had only hosted a World Cup once. The next time will not be until January 2028. And this despite the fact that Lenzerheide, unlike most other World Cup locations, has absolute snow security. Swiss biathlon is still in its infancy. In a country where every village, no matter how small, has an ice rink, a popular sport like wrestling delights thousands of spectators and a third of the Swiss population skis, this fringe sport is in a difficult position.

Here, biathlon is (still) a fringe sport This is also becoming clear to me as I type these lines into my laptop. The few Swiss colleagues next to me are staring intently at the large screens in the press center. The TV program Sportpanorama is playing there. It's not about biathlon; the focus is on the studio guest, the new ski star Franjo von Allmen.

I'm finishing my last World Cup diary and will then head back to my car. I did try public transport again in the morning, but that didn't work out. When the post bus from Davos stopped at my accommodation, it was already completely full. When I asked if I could get on, the bus driver said: "Please don't stress me out." I didn't let myself get stressed out either, got in the car, gave three desperate biathlon fans from Regensburg a lift and set off for the World Cup site for the last time. When I got there, the après-ski hit "Wackelkontakt" was playing again. I had to smile.

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Biathlon in Switzerland is like a lamp from the 70s

What do the Biathlon World Championships and the current hottest après-ski hit have in common? Certainly the many loose connections, but also the special charm. But that's not all. Our reporter experienced it first hand.

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