Surprise silver for Swiss in women’s downhill

Is it real? A delighted Martina Schild bites her silver medal after the women's downhill Keystone

Switzerland's Martina Schild has unexpectedly won silver in the women's downhill event at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday.

It’s the first medal for the Swiss women in the downhill since 1988 and the second medal for the national team during these games after Bruno Kernen won bronze in the men’s downhill race.

Schild, who skis for Switzerland’s B squad, came in 0.37 seconds behind Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister and ahead of Anja Pärson of Sweden.

The 24-year-old Schild from the mountain resort of Grindelwald showed that she was capable of confounding predictions when she recorded the best time in the second training run.

“It’s a surprise for me, too, because I’ve never won a World Cup race. The Olympics always bring surprises and today I was the surprise,” Schild said.

She received a place on the Swiss team only one month ago when she was placed fifth in her first World Cup race this season, which took place in St Moritz.

Surgery

Her success in Turin comes only two months after she had arthroscopic surgery on her knee.

By capturing silver, she became the first Swiss woman to win a medal in the winter games since Brigitte Oertli came in second in Calgary in 1988.

Schild’s grandmother, Hedy Schlunegger, was Olympic champion in the downhill the last time the games were held in Switzerland, in 1948 in St Moritz.

“It’s a great feeling to know my grandmother was first and I have a silver now,” Schild said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s gold or silver.”

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Women’s Olympic downhill:
Gold: Michaela Dorfmeister, Austria, 1:56.49
Silver: Martina Schild, Switzerland, 1:56.86
Bronze: Anja Pärson, Sweden, 1:57.13

The other Swiss competitors:
Nadia Styger, 5th
Fränzi Aufdenblatten, 12th
Sylviane Berthod, 14th