Olympic champion returns to rousing welcome
The Swiss Olympic ski jumping champion, Simon Ammann, has returned home to an enthusiastic welcome by his supporters.
Amman arrived at Zurich airport late Sunday morning, where over 2,000 people were waiting to greet him with flags and signs, including his parents and his younger sister Magdalena.
The 20-year-old star’s first reaction to this welcome was understandably pleased.
“Hey, absolutely incredible, totally,” he told Swiss television, which was broadcasting the event live. “I was expecting something, but not this many people.”
Once again, Ammann remained modest about his his victories at the Salt Lake City Games, thanking the entire ski jumping team for their support, and congratulating Andreas Küttel for his sixth place on the big hill.
Wearing both his gold medals around his neck, Switzerland’s newest sporting hero said he was able to sleep a little during his trans-Atlantic flight, thanks mainly to a first-class seat.
Ammann has now reached his home in Eastern Switzerland, where 5,000 people were waiting in his village of Unterwasser to celebrate his dual Olympic triumph.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.