Top honours for Nef and Bucher
Skier Sonja Nef and athlete André Bucher have been named Swiss sportswoman and sportsman of the year at a ceremony overshadowed by Silvano Beltrametti's terrible accident.
Beltrametti was among those nominated in the newcomers category and was clearly foremost in the athletes’ thoughts as the awards were handed out.
“His injury puts everything into perspective,” said Bucher after picking up the Swiss sportsman award for the second year in succession. “Sport is important, but it’s not the most important thing in life.”
The world 800 metres champion suggested though that Beltrametti’s sporting background could be of use to him in the difficult months ahead.
“As a sportsman, one of the most important things you have to do is to pick yourself up and face the next challenge. That’s what Silvano now has to do – get into that new life, and I’m sure he’ll make it.”
Nef, the giant slalom world champion, is the first woman skier to win the prize since 1995. The news of Beltrametti’s misfortune came as a great shock to the sportswoman of the year.
“It’s terrible coming just a few weeks after the death of (French super-G world champion) Régine Cavagnoud,” Nef told swissinfo. “It puts everything into proportion.”
Nef finished ahead in the vote of triathlete Natascha Badmann and orienteering specialist Simone Luder.
While many of the sporting stars at the Bern ceremony could only guess how Beltrametti was feeling, one of the night’s winners had a fair idea of the probable thoughts going through the young skier’s head.
Reigning European wheelchair champion over 800 and 1,500 metres Edith Hunkeler picked up the prize for handicapped sportsperson of the year. Having had to come back herself from an accident that left her without the use of her legs, the 29-year-old from Lucerne had her own words of comfort for Beltrametti.
“I know what Silvano is feeling right now,” she said. “I plunged the depths of despair and I managed to pull myself together.”
Other winners at the Swiss sports award were the Sauber-Petronas Formula One racing team, triathlete Nicola Spirig in the newcomers’ category, and Andy Vögtli, Bucher’s coach.
swissinfo with agencies
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