Alpine skiers have picked up the first gold and a second silver medal for Switzerland in the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
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Christoph Kunz won the men’s sitting downhill in 1:18.19 in Whistler on Thursday, ahead of Japan’s Taiki Morii and Akira Kano. Competitors complained of heavy and wet snow making racing conditions difficult.
“In a competition at the Paralympic Games you have to take risks, you have to risk everything, and that’s what happened,” Kunz said later.
It is the second medal for the 27-year-old banker who took silver in the sitting giant slalom a day earlier. He is also a medal contender in the super-G.
Also on Thursday 27-year-old Michael Brugger took silver in the men’s standing downhill, in a time of 1:22.78, two seconds behind Gerd Schonfelder of Germany.
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Swiss secure first medal of Paralympics
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The 28-year-old seven-time Swiss champion took second place in a race hindered by heavy rain and fog in Whistler on Tuesday. Kunz was leading in the first run but ceded in the second run to Germany’s Martin Braxenthaler, who also took gold in the slalom two days earlier. Kunz finished three seconds behind Braxenthaler’s time…
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The team won three gold, two silver and six bronze medals to finish in 34th place. China won the most medals at 211. Britain took second with 102 medals. The United States placed third with 99. Ruedi Spitzli, head of the Swiss team, had mixed feelings about Switzerland’s performance while expressing hope that the Paralympic…
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The Olympic Games for athletes with physical disabilities have taken place since 1960. This year around 4,000 people from 148 countries fought for glory in the Chinese capital. Switzerland reached its target of 11 medals.
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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.