Switzerland was the host nation of the 1928 Winter Olympics. It`participated in the event held at St. Moritz between 11 and 19 February 1928. The country's participation in the Games marked its second appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in the inaugural 1924 Games.
The Switzerland team consisted of 41 athletes who competed across seven sports. Hans Eidenbenz served as the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony. Switzerland won a lone bronze medal in the Games, and was ranked eighth in the overall medal table.
Background
Switzerland first competed at the inaugural 1896 Olympic Games held in Athens. The country first formed a National Olympic Committee in 1902, which functioned only for the Olympic Games between 1904 and 1912. The Swiss Olympic Association was established on 7 October 1912 and was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the same year.[2] The 1924 Winter Olympics marked Switzerland's first participation in the Olympic Games. After the nation made its debut in the Winter Olympics at the previous Games, this edition of the Games in 1928 marked the nation's second appearance at the Winter Games.[2]
The 1928 Winter Olympics was held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, between 11 and 19 February 1928.[3][4] The Switzerland team consisted of 41 athletes who competed across seven sports.[5][6]Hans Eidenbenz served as the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony.[7]
Bobsleigh competitions were held at the Olympia Bobrun in St. Moritz.[9] Two Swiss teams participated in the event in the sport.[5][6] In the event, the second team (SUI-2) was placed fifth after the first run, followed by the first team (SUI-1) in tenth place. However, after the second runs, the first and second teams moved towards the opposite ends of the classification table, and recorded eighth and 13th place finished in the final classification.[10]
Cross-country skiing competitions were held at the Skistadion in St. Moritz.[11] Eight men participated in the two Cross-country skiing events in the sport.[5][6]Walter Bussmann took part in both the 18 km and 50 km events.[12] Bussmann recorded the best finish in both the events for the nation. He recorded 15th place finishes in both the events.[13][14]
Figure skating competitions were held at the Olympia-Eisstadion Badrutts Park in St. Moritz.[15]Elvira Barbey was the lone woman athlete in the Games for Switzerland, and participated in two events in the figure skating competitions.[5][6] She was joined by her husband Louis Barbey in the pairs event.[16][17] In the events, the judges ranked each participant(s) by ordinal placement from first through last place, and the final placement was determined by a majority placement rule. While Elvira ranked 19th in the individual event, the pair was ranked 11th in the mixed event.[18][19]
Ice hockey competitions were held at the Olympia-Eisstadion Badrutts Park.[20] There were eleven teams in the competition, and ten teams were divided into three groups in the first stage. The teams played each other team in the group in a round robin tournament. The top team advanced to the final stage, where they were joined by Canada. A final round robin tournament determined the medal placings.[20]
The Switzerland team topped the table in the group stage with a win and a draw. In the final stage, the team lost against Canada and Sweden.[20] However, a lone victory against Great Britain was enough to secure third place and a bronze medal.[5][6]
The top teams from each of the three groups, plus Canada, which had received a bye into the medal round, played a round-robin to determine the medal winners.[20]
Nordic combined competitions were held at Skistadion and Olympiaschanze in St. Moritz.[21] The competition consisted of two events–Normal hill ski jumping and 18 km cross-country skiing, and the final results were determined based on points from both the events.[22] Switzerland was represented by four athletes in the competition.[5] In the cross-country race, all the Swiss competitors were ranked between 13th and 20th places. In ski-jumping, they fared better, with Stephan Lauener registering a fourth place finish. In the final classification, Lauener was the highest ranked Swiss athlete in eleventh place, with the others finishing behind him the top 20.[6][22]
The skeleton competitions were held at Cresta run.[23] The competition consisted of three runs across the 1,231m (4,039ft) course.[24] Switzerland was represented by two athletes in the competition.[5] Due to inclement weather, the race was delayed by two days, and only ten participants took part. In the final rankings, only eight finishers were recorded, with Alexander Berner finishing in fifth place, missing out on a medal by three seconds.[6][24]
Ski jumping competitions were held at the Olympiaschanze in St. Moritz.[25] Four Swiss participants entered in the Ski jumping event in the men's category.[5][6] The athletes had two jumps, with three judges scoring points and the final classification based on the average score. Sepp Mühlbauer and Ernst Feuz ranked in the top ten for Switzerland in the event.[26]
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